I Love You Always Forever
by threemine2013
Summary: After bringing her best friends together, Miley Stewart must come to terms with losing the one she loves and move on. One day, she ends up getting her chance to be with him - but the price life claims for it is very high. Moliver, begins Loliver.
1. Prologue: Miley, Accept the Facts

**Hello to all of you readers. This is me introducing all of you my newest fanfic. I've had this idea nagging at me for quite some time, but I wanted to wait until the series was over to start writing and publishing it. While I am aware that the number of readers may be lower now, at least now I know I'll write a story compatible with the series, even if it will mean bending a few things here and there. **

**If you want to know what I mean exactly, you'll have to read it. **

**And for the record, while this story may be rated M, it's more for a matter of safety than anything else. I'm not sure how 'M' I'm going to make it. **

**Last, the usual disclaimer: I don't own Hannah Montana, or anything related with it. **

**But still, I hope you enjoy this.**

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**Prologue – Miley, Accept the Fact(s)**

It was often said that there were some things in life you only had one chance to do. It was also said that when said chance came, one should jump on it and hold onto it as hard as possible, otherwise it could get away on the least expected occasion. And now, as she lay awake at night, Miley Stewart faced the full weight of the painful knowledge that she had thrown to waste the chance to have the most valuable thing she would ever come across in her life.

No. She hadn't thrown away one chance. She had thrown away several of them, because she certainly had had plenty of chances. She could have told him how she felt anytime. But she had always been afraid to take the risk. Worse, she had always believed she would have all the time in the world to do it. After all, it wasn't as if what she wanted to get was highly disputed.

And now, thanks to her fear and to her excess of optimism, her chances were over forever. And there was nothing she could do about that.

In an effort to stop those thoughts, Miley rolled over, like she had done uncountable times ever since she'd gone to bed. However, the change in position merely messed up her blankets, which were already far from smooth after all the time Miley had spent rolling around on her bed, not getting any closer to falling asleep than she had been when she had lied down, seemingly a week ago.

This was all wrong. Miley had never been the heaviest of sleepers, but she also had never been one to have regular trouble with insomnias or anything similar. It was an unwritten rule that whenever Miley lied down at night, she went to the country of dreams in less than ten minutes. The only exceptions to that rule took place whenever something was wrong with her. And right now, things were more wrong than they had been since her mother died, more than six years ago.

As a growl of frustration came out of her mouth, Miley pushed the covers away, slid off of her bed, tucked her feet into her slippers, and walked to the window to get some fresh air. She knew that all the fresh air in the world was unlikely to help sleep to come on this occasion, but at least it would cool her down. Spending so much time tossing and turning in her bed had left her hot and sweaty.

As she opened her window, and the cool breeze blew on her face, Miley saw that the night was carrying on as it usually did in her quiet corner of Malibu. The palm trees' leaves swayed in the wind, the stars shone on the dark-blue sky, and everything else she listed as normal was taking place. The only thing out of the ordinary was that sleep refused to come to her. Her body was exhausted, but her brain didn't seem capable of turning itself off, working overtime to process a particularly hard bit of information.

It had been the same way for the previous three nights, ever since she'd returned from shooting _Indiana Joannie_, and had found out that her two best friends had started a relationship with each other while she was away. Even after three days, Miley still couldn't believe that such a thing had happened. But she had already come to the conclusion that denial wouldn't change the truth. According to both of them, things had started at a beach party, when Lilly had held onto Oliver to avoid dancing with Nose-Whistle Wally. And then, their heads had just fit together, Oliver had inhaled the apple-scent on Lilly's hair, and things just evolved from there.

However, that beach party had not only been what started their relationship. It had also been what started their first argument as a couple. Both were convinced they had danced to a certain song, and neither of them had been willing to surrender. If not for Miley's meddling, their relationship would just be another of those high-school flings, simply because both Lilly and Oliver were stubborn as mules. However, after Miley had opened their eyes with a home-made movie a matter of hours ago, the two of them had made up, and now, everything was alright again.

Or almost everything.

All the way throughout her return, her plan, and her saying goodbye to her friends after they made up, Miley had faced a very serious issue. She couldn't be happy for them, no matter how hard she tried. And all because of a secret she held. A secret far more precious than the fact she was Hannah Montana. A secret that she had never told anyone.

She loved Oliver. Really loved Oliver, and not as a best friend. She wasn't sure when it had started exactly, but it was unquestionable that it had. Oliver was everything she could want in a guy. She could list everything she loved about him, but somehow, putting her feelings into words was the equivalent to limiting them, destroying them. Everything was better safely in her mind. The only word she dared to use to describe Oliver was 'amazing'. And as time passed, he just kept getting better. Of course, the fact he'd started to get buffer and more handsome lately wasn't bad either, but it was just the icing on the cake made of everything that Oliver Oscar Oken was.

However, Oliver had never gotten to know how she felt, in spite of all the things Miley had done for him (or because of him) over the years, beginning with forgetting the National Anthem and the lyrics to her songs just because he was upset with her, going through things like flying down the beach in a chicken suit and playing hockey, and ending on her unquestionable willingness to give up the role of her life just so she wouldn't lose her friendship with him. Somewhere in all of those things there had been a hint for Oliver to pick up. None of them had made him understand, and Miley had never gathered the courage to tell him the truth.

And now, Lilly had come and taken her guy. Her Oliver. It wasn't fair.

Miley took a deep breath in an effort to ease the ache in her chest, but her intake of air only made the stab of pain in her heart become more pronounced. It had been there for almost four days now, and it had remained as strong as it was when it had appeared, in spite of Miley's attempts to soothe it. And worse, this was all her fault. If she had dared to tell everything to Oliver before, perhaps she would have been the one sharing a magical moment with him at the beach party.

But there was nothing she could do now, other than to accept the facts and move on. And she knew that. She only didn't know how she would be able to do it.

The silence in her bedroom was suddenly cut by a low growl from her belly. Apparently, she had spent too much time trying to fall asleep - so long that her stomach was starting to complain from the lack of food. And Miley's heartache didn't prevent her from knowing that if she hadn't been able to fall asleep with a broken heart and an overactive brain, she certainly wouldn't be able to with an empty stomach thrown into the mix. And at least, she still knew what she could do to solve that problem.

After she closed the window, Miley turned around and started her way to the kitchen. The clock at her bedside table caught her eyes as she exited her bedroom. Two o'clock in the morning, it read. That meant Miley had spent more than three hours tossing and turning under her covers, as she tried time after time to be happy for her best friends and forget about her broken heart. All those attempts had been in vain. And for some reason, it seemed like a lot of things in her life from now on would be in vain.

Fortunately, getting something to eat at the kitchen wouldn't be one of those. The food wouldn't make her feel better when it came to her heart problems, but it would fill her stomach, and hopefully, help her to fall asleep.

When she got to the top of the stairs, she could see that the lights were on down there. But she didn't get worried or alarmed. She had a very good idea of who was down there.

Right as she went down the lowest step, she had the confirmation of her guess. Her father was sitting at the kitchen's table. A plate with a slice of pie was in front of him, and he was taking another one to his mouth. But that was something he at times did, come down for pie in the middle of the night. It was a miracle that he managed to keep such a fit body at his age when he consumed so much sugar.

When he heard her, he stopped in the middle of taking the slice of pie to his mouth and looked toward her. A surprised look came upon his face.

"Miley? What are you doing down here at this hour?"

Miley frowned inwardly. She hated when her father called her Miley. Usually, he'd use 'Bud'. Less commonly, he used 'Miles' or 'Baby Girl'. And although she wasn't fond of the last one either, even 'Baby Girl' was preferable to 'Miley' which was basically a giveaway to the fact that he thought, correctly or not, that something was wrong. And while he was right this time, Miley didn't need her dad to reinforce that fact, nor did she want to talk about it.

"I couldn't fall asleep," she said. "And now I'm hungry, because it's been about five hours since I last ate."

Her father nodded.

"Do you want some pie?" he offered, lifting the slice he was holding, which was missing a chunk already.

Miley simply plopped down on a chair. She liked pie, but not enough to be something she wanted to eat at a time like this.

"Do you want some chocolate cake?" her father tried again.

"Yes, Daddy, thank you."

For her, chocolate cake was the same thing pie was for her father. Hopefully, it would be enough to make her feel better about the whole situation. Even if it only lasted a moment, Miley was going to take anything she could get.

"I'll get it," he said. "And in the meantime, I'll fix you some Loco Hot Cocoa."

Miley frowned. Loco Hot Cocoa was the family's special drink. It was divine nectar when it came down to taste, but it had the unpleasant side effect of causing weird dreams. She didn't even want to think of what sort of dreams the drink would cause when she was facing the worst crisis of her life ever since her mother passed away. But at the same time, whenever either she or Jackson had insomnias, Loco Hot Cocoa always managed to put them to sleep. Even if it meant weird dreams later on, sleeping badly was better than not sleeping at all.

While Miley waited for her father to bring the slice of cake and the mug with hot chocolate, her head turned to the front door. Lilly and Oliver had left her house to celebrate their making up only moments before Miley had gone to bed. For an instant, Miley wondered what that had meant exactly. She had a lot of theories for it, each one creepier than the previous. One of them, in particular, was the last thing she wanted to imagine either Lilly or Oliver doing. Imagining them doing it together was enough to make her sick.

A part of her wondered whether she was being unreasonable. After all, they had even asked her if she would like to come and celebrate with them. But Miley was sure that it had been exclusively out of good manners, and that neither of them really wanted her around during their celebration.

Soon, they were bound not to want her around for a lot of things. The sort of intimate things proper of a couple, that Miley could never be a part of. Eventually, they could even not want her around for anything at all.

Miley did her best to avoid that thought. That idea was ten times more horrible than the idea of losing Oliver to Lilly. Those two were the only real friends she had ever since she moved to California – if old friends from Tennessee who she saw twice a year at the most were excluded. She got along well with a lot of her schoolmates, but she didn't see any of them as more than acquaintances.

The sound of a mug and a plate being set down on the table caught her attention.

"Here it is bud," her father said as he set down a fork and a knife by the plate's side. "Your slice of cake, and your mug of hot chocolate."

Miley tried her best not to frown again. Another thing her father didn't usually do was saying 'hot chocolate'. Usually, he'd say 'Loco Hot Cocoa, with little marshmallows so you don't choke-o'. He also didn't have the habit of cutting her slices of cake this big – at most, the slices he cut for her had two-thirds of this one's size. Even the mug of Loco Hot Cocoa was bigger and proportionally fuller than it was normal. Yet more hints at him thinking – maybe even knowing – that something was wrong. Miley already had more than enough of those.

But she only said, "Thanks, Daddy."

And if she hadn't remembered her manners, she wouldn't have even said that.

As her father sat back in front of his slices of pie, Miley grabbed the fork and picked at the slice of cake half-heartedly. All of a sudden, she'd lost her appetite.

But she knew she had to eat. Otherwise, her father would get even more suspicious.

Miley cut what she considered a piece with acceptable size, and put it in her mouth, before chewing slowly. Her father grabbed the slice of pie he'd been busy with before, and took a bite off of it, but she saw the look he was giving her.

Not willing to meet it, she cut a few more pieces of cake, and chewed them with forced placidness, hoping to fool her father. She only hoped this wouldn't be another of those times when his unexpected perceptiveness would strike.

"Do you want to tell me what's going on?" her father finally asked. It was more than obvious that he had known something was wrong with her, and was only waiting some time to see if she would to have enough initiative to start talking talk about it.

Miley gave a sideways look at her father. Even if her relationship with him was much closer than the one most teenage girls had with their fathers, she wasn't sure if she could talk to him about this.

"It might help you to feel better," he added, before he bit another chunk out of his slice of pie.

If there was something Miley didn't believe at the moment, it was that anything would help her to feel better right now. But she was also desperate enough to try, and she knew her father wouldn't criticize her. Not after how she had proved that she could put her best friends' happiness before her own.

"It's about Lilly and Oliver," Miley finally said. In secret, she hoped with all her heart that her answer would confuse her father enough for him to let go of the matter. "They got back together. My plan to make them see how stupid they were acting worked."

She expected her father's eyes to narrow in confusion, and for him to make some sort of any question of why she was so upset if her plan had worked. Instead, he just nodded in understanding.

"But you didn't want it to be that way, right bud?"

Now Miley was the one confused. Her father's tone wasn't confused at all. Instead, it seemed that he was asking for a confirmation. It was as if he knew. But how could he know?

It wasn't important. Probably she had just underestimated her father's intelligence and perceptiveness again. What she needed to do now was to find a way to avoid answering the question her father had made.

Deciding on the only option that came to her mind, Miley cut another piece of cake and took it to her mouth, chewing it as slowly as the others. Although she had always been educated to know that lying was wrong and that she should answer other people when they talked to her, she didn't feel comfortable talking about the reason behind her pain. She just had this weird idea that if she voiced it, she would make it real, while if she kept it quiet, it would all be some weird dream from which she could wake up – like it had happened with that dream she'd had about Lilly liking Jackson. Right now, she would give just about anything for that dream to have been real. If it had been real, she could still have kept Oliver for herself.

But her father kept looking at her. It was obvious he wouldn't let the matter go until Miley said anything in response to what he'd asked.

"No, I didn't," she finally managed to say. And to avoid him making too much questions, she said something else right away. "What I wanted was for them to realize that they can never be anything else that best friends, and that a relationship between them is doomed to fail."

Her father nodded, and then took another bite off of his slice. Miley couldn't help but to narrow her eyes in confusion, unable to understand why her father had just accepted that. She'd expected him to make a few more questions at least.

"You're not gonna ask me why I wanted that?" Miley said, unable to repress the surprise in her tone.

Her father swallowed the already chewed piece of pie.

"No I won't, bud. Because I already know."

Her mouth went agape and her eyes widened. "You do?"

"I do, Mile," he said. Without giving her any chance to say anything, he added, "I know about your feelings for Oliver."

Miley didn't know what to say. Part of her wanted to ask when exactly he had gotten to know that. Another wanted to ask why he wasn't mad at her. And another wanted to ask for advice about what he thought he should do.

However, she ended up not listening to any of those. Instead, she just asked, "Are you mad at me?"

"No, Mile. I'm not," His tone was so honest that Miley didn't doubt him for a second. "I'm only a little bit disappointed that you didn't trust me enough to talk to me about that. I've told you and Jackson time and time again: both of you can speak to me about anything. I'm your father, that's what I'm here for."

Miley couldn't look her father in the eyes after that. He'd said it a lot of times before, and so far he'd always kept true to his word. Miley had been the one who hadn't, although she had promised that she would do it if she had to. Jackson was more honest than her at those times – he simply said 'Thanks' after their father said something in that vein. But if he ever took the offer, Miley didn't know. In all honestly, she doubted he did. When he had been a kid, Jackson usually went to their mother. She couldn't remember him ever going to their father when he was upset in those times. But since their mother had died, Jackson simply dealt with things on his own whenever he was upset, as far as Miley knew. Perhaps he and their father sometimes talked about those things in secret or something of the like. But if she didn't know what Jackson did when he was upset, she also didn't know what to do to deal with this. Or, to be honest, she didn't know how she'd be able to do it.

"But I swear it, bud, I would never be mad at you for loving Oliver," her father finished, his voice so sympathetic that it made Miley feel even worse. "After all, what reason would I have to feel that way?"

Miley had to recognize her father had a point. As far as she knew, he didn't have any reason to be mad at her because she loved Oliver. But it didn't make any difference. Even considering Oliver had her father's approval, it didn't do her any good. Not with Oliver in Lilly's arms.

"Loving him is pointless now," Miley finally said. She tried her utter best to speak in a normal voice. "Lilly got him first."

"It's not pointless, bud," her father said. "And while we're on the matter, I'm sure that both Oliver and Lilly would be upset if you stopped loving them – as a friend."

As a friend. The three dreaded words. Miley had no doubt that Oliver loved her 'as a friend'. But she loved him as much more than a friend. And in spite of her willingness to keep both him and Lilly in her life, Miley doubted things could work between them, even as friends.

"But you're right about one thing," her father carried on. "Oliver won't ever love you the same way that he loves Lilly."

Her father's words felt like a knife slicing her heart in half, but Miley nodded.

"And in spite of what you've said, you know very well that the relationship between them won't fail, right?" her father carried on. "Sure, they may take some time adjusting, but they'll do it – and when they do, nothing will break them apart."

Miley wanted to refute that. Miley wanted to say that her father's words made no sense. Miley wanted to tell him that only she, not Lilly, could ever hope to be Oliver's real love. But she didn't.

Because, deep down, Miley knew that her father was right, just like she knew that Lilly had truly gotten Oliver first. And she also knew that Lilly hadn't 'gotten him' just because they danced together a few weeks ago. The two of them could have come up with the whole beach party excuse – why they did it, Miley didn't know – but she had no problems guessing the whole, true story, where Lilly and Oliver dancing together at the beach party had simply been the final push. Things between Lilly and Oliver had truly begun when the two of them were at kindergarten, and Lilly had held Oliver's hand. No matter how many times Lilly had repeated that she'd only done so because she wanted to use his crayons, Miley had always suspected there was something more behind her gesture. And she could just figure the rest out from there. Their feelings for each other had grown stronger over the years, but none of them was brave enough to reveal them, and both of them had tried to cover them up by assuming a siblings-like relationship, insulting each other, arguing over insignificant things, and even dating someone else occasionally in order to get distracted from their feelings for each other. But then, after that magical moment they shared, neither Lilly nor Oliver had been able to hold their love for the other any longer.

Because they did love each other, and Miley couldn't question that fact in a million years. Just before they had left, she had seen Lilly and Oliver looking at each other the same way her father and mother had, back when her mother was still alive. She wasn't sure how it had happened, but it had. And now, her only option was to stand aside.

But still, Miley couldn't help to have spent hours cursing herself for not having confessed her own feelings to Oliver before Lilly.

"I'm sorry I said it, bud," her father carried on, still in his sympathetic tone. "But it's the truth."

All of a sudden, her eyes started watering.

"I know," Miley whispered, feeling tears about to pour out of her eyes.

Her father got up and took her in his arms.

"There, there," her father whispered soothingly. "It's alright, bud. Don't cry."

"What else do you want me to do, Daddy?" Miley asked, her voice choked by the sobs. "I just lost the love of my life to my best friend! I let the chance of a lifetime pass by!"

"I don't think you did, bud," her father said, still holding her in his comforting hug. "I know it may feel that way, but believe me, you didn't. I'm sure that, very deep down, you know that."

Again, Miley wanted to argue. And again, she couldn't. Her father was right again. She hadn't let the chance of a lifetime pass by, because she never really had a chance. And she had always been aware of that, although she had never been willing to admit it – even to herself – until now. Lilly had known Oliver for years before Miley had, and the two had a lot of time to accumulate feelings and experiences as they had grown up, something Miley could never hope to have. Lilly and Oliver had been meant for each other since the beginning. Miley simply had been the one with enough bad luck to fall for him as well. And now, she was weeping over that.

All of a sudden, it dawned on her that she was crying, and that her father was holding her. It only made her feel worse. Now, besides being heartbroken, she felt more ashamed of herself than she ever had.

"Sorry, Daddy," she said as she wiped at her tears. "I'm being too childish, crying over this. I'll stop crying, I promise."

Her father pushed her away at arm's length, and looked her in the eyes.

"I would be more worried about you if you didn't cry, bud. Tears are a way to let out the pain. If you don't cry when you need to, the pain will eat you up from inside. And believe me, I can imagine how bad you are hurting."

Miley sobbed harder, and wrapped her arms around her father again. She knew he was being honest, and not telling that just to make her feel better. After all, he'd also lost the love of his life. He'd even lost her twice for that matter. First when her mother had started dating that other guy before her father had asked out for the first time, and a second time when she had died. But the first time, he'd eventually managed to get her back, after she broke up with that other guy. And although the second time he'd lost her had been for good, at least he'd gotten to date her, to marry her, to have children with her, to share a life with her. Miley would never get any of that with Oliver, and nothing in this world could ever change that.

But at least, the tears were a way to relieve the pain, like her father had said. It seemed that the longer she cried, the ache in her heart decreased. And at least now, she could cry without worrying about being judged or berated. So, that was what she did, until her eyes had nothing more to shed. Her father kept his comforting hug all the way through it, not making any comment. And for that, Miley would always be grateful.

When she was finally done with soaking her father's t-shirt, the ache in her chest was much weaker than before – but it was still there. It would always be. And Miley doubted anything would ever change that.

But it least it was manageable now, and her brain had gone quiet. Now she should be able to fall asleep, after filling her stomach.

Miley pulled away from her father with painful slowness, wiped off the tear streaks on her face, and sat back down, staring at the slice of cake as if it had was her way out of this whole mess.

"If you ever want to talk about it again, bud, you can always come to me," her father said after he went back to the other side of the table. It was obvious he never thought it was too much to emphasize that point.

Miley lifted her eyes from the slice of cake and nodded, not feeling up to talking at the moment. She hoped her father wouldn't force her to say it.

Fortunately, he got the message, and after he gave her a brief nod, he returned to his pie, ravaging his already half-eaten slice in seconds, before he moved on to the second one.

Meanwhile, Miley grabbed the mug of Loco Hot Cocoa, and took a careful sip. It was just at the temperature she liked. Wanting to drink most of it before it got too cold, Miley gulped a quarter of the mug's content all at once, set the drink down, and picked up the fork and the knife to eat what was left of her slice of cake. For some reason, her heartache had made her stomach even emptier. For the first time since she'd come down, Miley was happy that her father had cut off a bigger slice of cake than he usually did. It had been the right thing for him to do for sure, just like getting Lilly and Oliver back together had been the right thing for her to do, in spite of all the pain it had caused her. But what was right wasn't always what you would prefer to do. That much she had already learned, in the most painful way ever.

But it wasn't as if she could have done anything else. Like she had said, she had left the chance of a lifetime pass by, if she ever had it in the first place. Like she had said, she'd never get to be with Oliver now. Like she had said, the only thing she could do was move on.

The only problem was that thinking about having to do it was already looking impossible. Miley didn't even want to think just how hard it would be to actually do it, every single day, for years to come.

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**So, this was the prologue for my fanfic. In case someone is wondering, for this fanfic I'm trying to follow the show's rule, where every episode seems to be named after one song, whether they use a song's literal name or simply make an adaptation of it. I'm not sure if I'll manage it, but both the fanfic's title and the prologue's are named after or inspired by one song's title. If you want to find out which... well, I'll leave it up to you.**

**Now, I would really value reviews for this. Particularly when it comes to the more emotional stuff. I'm a guy, and as such, emotional scenes aren't exactly my strong point (or so one of my friends has told me). **

**Also, if you've read the fourth chapter of my other fanfic, please tell me which one of these do you want to see the most. Like I said there, the final decision will still be mine, but I really want to know your opinions, just like I want to know what you think about this chapter. **

**Oh, and in case it wasn't clear enough, or I get some reader who's new to the whole Hannah Montana universe, the prologue is meant to take place immediately after 'What I Don't Like About You' ends. **

**I eagerly await your reviews.**

**My best wishes for all of you.**


	2. Chapter 1: Waking Up to the Real World

**Well, I must say I got a little bit sad when I noticed that I received so little reviews for my first chapter, but I accept that such a thing happened because this story is going a little bit on the unusual side. I hope it eventually gets more readers (and more reviewers). But most of all, I hope you enjoy this.**

**Thanks to those who reviewed the prologue. I hope you also enjoy the first chapter. When you read it, I trust you will realize why I said that this story wasn't an AU from the show. **

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**Chapter 1 – Waking Up to the Real World**

As she stood in front of the door to one of Stanford's dorm rooms, Miley Stewart pulled the right sleeve of her oversized Stanford sweater up, raised her hand, and knocked.

She hoped the room's occupant was there, so that she wouldn'thave to stand around here for hours waiting for her to arrive, with several people spotting her wearing a sweater this big in the meantime. But she knew that if she had to do such a thing, it would be worth it in the end. When she'd given up the chance to star with Tom Cruise in a movie directed by Steven Spielberg in Paris in order to come here, it was hard to think of something that would make this 'not worth it'.

The dorm room's door opened, and the face of her best friend since they were ten years old was revealed. At first, Lilly's look was mildly-interested at best, but as soon as she saw who had knocked, a look that was both astonished and ecstatic came to her face.

"I'm Miley, I'm your new room-mate," Miley joked, a wide smile on her face, as she extended her hand in order to shake Lilly's.

"Really?" Lilly squealed.

And then, before Miley could say anything else, Lilly reached over and gave her the tightest hug she'd ever received. Miley hugged back as hard as she could.

"You're right," Miley said as they parted. "You know, there's gonna be a million concerts, and tours, and movies… but I only get one chance to go to college with my best friend."

Lilly just hugged her again, unable to show her happiness through any other means.

"I love you so much," Miley whispered.

"I know!" Lilly squealed, before she tightened her hug even more.

Miley gave a few pats on her best friend's back in apology, before she hugged harder as well.

But, as the two of them kept sharing that moment, Miley couldn't help but to feel that there were a lot of things that simply didn't make sense here. And it wasn't the fact Miley had said to Lilly that she loved her, because she did – as a best friend, even as a sister. It also wasn't the fact Lilly was beyond herself with happiness at the idea of seeing her best friend, or the fact Miley had given up the chance to shoot a movie with Steven Spielberg and Tom Cruise in order to go to college with Lilly. It wasn't even the fact she was wearing a Stanford sweater the size of a sack of potatoes.

It was this whole series of events that didn't make any sense. Lilly hadn't ever wanted to go to Stanford in the first place. And Miley would never reveal to the world the Hannah Montana secret for a guy like Jesse. Sure, he was rather nice, but she had never loved him enough to do something like that for him.

But there was one thing that had less logic than any of the others. Namely, that even if Miley acted and spoke without thinking at times, she would never be foolish enough to give up Hannah Montana and the whole secret when those two things were her only escape route from the biggest problem she ever had to face.

Just what exactly was going through her head? Had the blond wig messed up her brain somehow?

Before Miley could keep dwelling on what exactly had prompted her behaviour, Lilly relaxed her grip – a signal she thought the hug had lasted long enough. Miley opened her own arms, and her best friend pulled away, only to put her right hand on Miley's left shoulder afterwards.

Then, Lilly started shaking her.

"Miley! Miley! Wake up, Miley!" Lilly said, her voice sounding as though it came from far away, although Lilly was right in front of her.

As soon as Lilly spoke, everything around Miley started whirling around and being sucked away, like water going down a drainpipe. The Stanford dorm, Lilly, even the sack-sized sweater Miley was wearing. The only things that stayed were the grip of Lilly's hand on her shoulder and the shaking it made.

Her brain barely had time to register that, when the whirl around her disappeared like a television being turned off.

Just what was going on now?

* * *

"Miley! Miley! Wake up!" Lilly's voice was heard again, now sounding as though she was speaking from the bottom of a pan.

Ever so slowly, Miley's awareness of her surroundings returned to her, although it had to open way through a layer of drowsiness thicker than her Uncle Earl's moustache.

Although the only thing Miley could see was a mix of coloured blurs, she kept hearing Lilly's voice – much closer and more clearly than before. She could also feel the grip of her best friend's hand and the shaking it caused, both of which were growing more pronounced as time passed.

As more of her awareness came back, Miley realized she was lying on a soft mattress, and that Lilly was right by her side – but in a position different from the one they had been in after pulling away from their hug.

"Miley! Wake up, Miley! Come on, Miley, wake up!"

As Miley finally listened to what Lilly was saying, everything fell into place. She couldn't see anything because her eyes were closed, she was in a different position from before because she was lying down on her bed, and Lilly was shaking her all of a sudden to wake her up. The real Lilly, that is, because the one that had hugged her at that dorm room in Stanford had belonged to a dream, just like telling the world she was Hannah Montana, and a lot of other weird things that had happened recently.

An involuntary sigh of relief escaped her lips, as she realized that none of those things had happened at all. At least, it meant she hadn't thrown her life into jeopardy – because she sure had enough of that when it came to her emotional state.

And at the rate things were going, she would also have a huge turmoil in her tendons and muscles, if Lilly didn't stop shaking her shoulder.

"Alright, alright," Miley forced herself to mumble as she opened her eyes. "I'm up Lilly."

"No, you're not," Lilly insisted. "Wake up!"

Before Miley could try to say otherwise, Lilly grabbed her shoulders and pulled her so she would be sitting up. Miley wanted nothing else than to plop back down onto the mattress and sleep more, but, as awareness kept returning to her, Miley realized she couldn't do it. If memory and the clock on her beside table served her right, she had classes in an hour and a half.

"Come on Miley, wake up!"

"Geez, Lilly," Miley mumbled, as annoyance and sleepiness flushed their way through her. "What's with all the fuss?"

Although her sight was still blurry from sleepiness, Miley could see that Lilly looked nothing short of displeased with her question.

"What's with all the fuss?" she echoed in a tone that would have made Miley cover her ears if she could bring herself to making the gesture. "Miley, don't you know what day it is?"

It was a hard task for Miley to figure that point out when she had to make such big efforts at not plopping down onto her mattress, but she tried anyway. After all, it was the only way Lilly would give her some rest.

"Today's Friday, isn't it?" she said. This time, she actually managed to speak, and not mumble, in the spite of the overwhelming sleepiness in her.

If it was really Friday, that was good news. Not only it meant that she would have classes only 'till 12:00 a.m., but it meant that when the day ended she would be able to sleep without worrying about waking up early on the next morning. And that was something she really needed, because Hannah had a concert in Los Angeles Saturday night.

"Yes, Miley, it is Friday," Lilly said. Her tone made it obvious that she was far from happy with the answer she had received. "But that's not what I meant."

Before Miley could say anything, Lilly explained in an excited squeal, "Today's the day my Ollie-pop comes back from his tour with the Tepid Funk!"

In spite of her tiredness, Miley moaned at Lilly's words.

Of course. Today was the end of Oliver's six-month long absence. Her weird dream must have been more taxing for her than she had first thought, if Miley hadn't even remembered such a meaningful date.

Meaningful, but not for the same reasons Lilly deemed it as such. After all, the fact Oliver would return meant she would have to see Oliver and Lilly cooing at each other, feeding each other, kissing each other, and doing a lot of other things she didn't even want to think about. She missed Oliver, no questions there, but she was far from anxious to see him and Lilly cuddling and calling each other pimple-inspired pet names, like she had for more than a year now. In straight terms, she was tired of knowing they were having a relationship. It was just too taxing for her, when she had to spend every second of the day trying to forget about her own feelings for Oliver so that he and Lilly could love each other in peace.

But if that was the case, did it really made a difference to have him back? Over the last six months, being close to Lilly while she kept a long-distance relationship with Oliver had been every bit as overwhelming as watching them dating and displaying their affection right by her side. She had tried everything to decrease the difficulty of the task, going as far as to gradually cut back on the number of times the three of them hung out together until it had reached the point of near-nothingness. Eventually, what little was left was cut off when Oliver left for the tour. At the time, Miley hoped that the distance would decrease her pain, but both her efforts and hopes had been in vain. And there was no reason for it to be other way. Her heartache came from the simple knowledge that Oliver was in a relationship with Lilly. And although the two of them had been dating for more than a year now, Miley's pain hadn't decreased a bit since that day when she'd gotten them back together. The day when she'd decided to swallow her feelings for the sake of her two best friends.

"Miley!" Lilly called. "Are you there?"

Miley snapped out of her thoughts when she remembered Lilly had been standing there the whole time, her hands on her hips and a stern look on her face, as she waited for Miley to give some sort of response to what she'd said.

"Yes, I'm here," Miley said. "Sorry that I didn't remember Oliver's return right away, but my mind's still a little bit confused."

Lilly's expression switched from stern to concerned at those words.

"What's wrong, Miley?"

"Nothing," Miley said. "It's just that I was having the weirdest dream ever, but it seemed so real in a way that when you woke me up, you kind of changed the reality I was experiencing all of a sudden."

When Lilly's look began growing even more concerned, Miley added in the most reassuring tone she could muster, "But don't worry, I'll be fine as soon as I'm wide awake. Besides, my dream wasn't bad – it was just weird."

From the look on Lilly's face, it was obvious that Miley's words didn't have the effect she had hoped for.

"How weird?" she asked.

"If you don't mind, I'll tell that at breakfast only," Miley replied. "Dad is also going to make that question for sure, and I would prefer if I only had to talk about it once."

"But by then, you may have forgotten about the dream," Lilly insisted. "You know how dreams are, they're fresh shortly after you wake up, but then they slip away."

Miley chuckled at that remark.

"You don't have to worry about that," she said. "The dream was so weird that I doubt it will slip away any time soon. And even if it does, it was only a dream. Granted, it was a weird one, but there's nothing to worry about it."

Before Lilly could press the matter even more, Miley changed subjects, hoping to get her best friend's mind off track.

"Either way, that's no excuse for me to forget about something as important as Oliver's return," she said. "Even with the weird dream I had, I should have remembered today was the day Oliver came back from his tour."

Indeed, she should have. After all, the day of Oliver's return was also the day when her emotional torture would intensify again. At least, it had been that way when Oliver had come to visit Lilly for the weekend, two months after leaving. Putting on that mask of happiness for him and Lilly had been so hard that if she'd hesitated for as much as a moment, she wouldn't have been able to do it. Fortunately, her determination had held on, and she had managed to keep her happy look, while she felt as though a machete was hacking at her broken heart time and time again. She had even tried to get Jake to come to see if it would make it easier, but, irony of ironies, Oliver had come with with the news that Jake was a cheater, and had hidden it from her at first so he wouldn't break her heart. On that day, Miley had delivered a performance even better than when she acted like a diva in front of Rob Reiner.

In all honesty, she hadn't been all that surprised at Jake's behaviour. She had only been disappointed that Jake hadn't had the nerve to break up with her before going to that other girl. But seeing as he had likely done so because he felt his relationship with her was one-sided, Miley couldn't blame him for that. Not when her third relationship with him had been the fakest one she'd ever had. She had only lashed out at him like an angry lioness in the middle of the Christmas special to keep up appearances. Other than that, every single thing she'd done in her third relationship with Jake had been an attempt either at getting her mind off her feelings for Oliver or at forcing herself to fall in love with Jake. In the end, it hadn't been all that hard to pull off that final act. It was a pity that she had to ruin the Christmas special and pound Jake with the bag of gifts, but it had been necessary to do so in order stay in her character of girlfriend who loved Jake more than anything and had gotten heartbroken at his betrayal. If she had acted any other way, both Oliver and Lilly would have started wondering. She would have preferred if it didn't have to be that way, but the truth was that her third relationship with Jake had been a huge mistake. In the end, the thing she regretted the most was that she hadn't been able to apologize to Jake for having used him in order to forget her feelings for Oliver. Even if he was an ego-maniac at times, he didn't deserve it, just like he hadn't deserved to go back to Phoenix in that kid outfit (courtesy of her father taking a chance to display his dislike for Jake). Fortunately, Jake had bounced back from all those things, and his career kept going strong, as far she could tell from the news she caught about him on websites and on celebrity magazines.

It was a pity that it wasn't that easy for her to bounce back from her feelings for Oliver. Even when he left back on tour after the weekend of his visit ended, her emotional turmoil had barely decreased.

And in less than twelve hours, after Oliver was back for good, her emotional turmoil would restart for sure. And, if Oliver's visit back when she and Jake broke up for the final time was any indication of things, her turmoil was only going to get worse.

Again, it was Lilly's voice that brought her back to reality.

"Are you alright, Miley? You seem sort of lost there."

Miley cursed inwardly as she realized she had zoned out again. One thing she hadn't yet managed to master was not to get lost in her thoughts about Oliver in front of Lilly.

"I'm fine," Miley said. She hoped the lie had come off in a convincing manner, but it was a short-lived feeling, that ended when she realized something: she had forgotten what they had been talking about.

"Where were we?" she asked as she cursed at herself inwardly. Now, Lilly was going to find things even more suspicious for sure.

"Are you sure there's nothing wrong?" Lilly insisted.

"There's nothing wrong," Miley said, trying to convey the most reassuring tone she could. "Like I said, my mind is only trying to pull itself together after that weird dream I had."

Lilly seemed to take the excuse, but Miley could already see the concern blooming again on her best friend's face. Determined to stop Lilly before she could make another attempt at insisting on knowing what the dream had been about, Miley said, in the most forceful tone she could muster, "Now, like I said, where were we?"

"You were saying that your dream was no excuse for you to have forgotten that Oliver was coming back from his tour," Lilly replied.

"Right," Miley said as she remembered the line of thought she had been following. "But, like I was going to say, did you really have to wake me up just to remind me of that?"

"No offense meant," she added as quickly as she could. After all, her previous sentence had several insulting undercurrents. And even if her best friend had woken her up at a really improper moment, Miley didn't want to offend her.

"I didn't wake you up to remind you of that," Lilly said, her tone stating that she wasn't offended in the slightest.

Before Miley could reply, Lilly ran to her bed, and returned with two hangers.

"I woke you up so you can help me pick which of these outfits I should wear when I go to meet my Ollie-pop at the airport!" she squealed.

It took all of Miley's self-control not to grumble. It would have been far better if Lilly had woken her up _just_ to remind her that Oliver was coming back from his tour.

"I already got to a tie-in between these two, but I can't decide between them," Lilly explained.

Miley nodded to signal she understood the point, but inwardly, she had to fight off a wave of jealousy. Jealousy for not being the one dressing up for Oliver after he returned from his tour. Jealousy for not being the one who would get to kiss him passionately after an absence of six months. Jealousy for not being the one he'd missed the most while he was on the road. Jealousy for things she could keep listing for the rest of the day.

Miley clenched her teeth and did her utter best to silence those thoughts. She had already brooded over them long enough for the first minutes of her day, and she knew she would have to deal with them later on. She didn't need to have her head so full of them right off the bat.

In an effort to get distracted from that, Miley looked at the two hangers Lilly was holding. On one, there was a blouse with a pattern of black, white, and grey squares, a white vest, and black trousers. On the other, there was a blue top, a dark-grey vest, and dark-blue skinny jeans with custom-made white smudges. Miley recognized the second outfit as the one she and Oliver had bought Lilly shortly before Oliver left on tour, when Miley had considered going back to Tennessee.

At times, Miley regretted not having gone back. If she had done so, perhaps she could have broken up with Jake before he betrayed her, and then had another go at a relationship with Travis. Out of all the boys she had ever been with, he was the nicest and most decent, and he had a proper objective in life. Maybe with time, she would have forgotten about her feelings for Oliver, and truly fallen in love with Travis.

But whenever Miley thought about the matter seriously, she always came to the conclusion that staying at Malibu had been the right choice. If she had gone back to Tennessee at the same time Oliver was going on tour, the fabric of Lilly's world would have been ripped from under her feet. And Miley didn't want such a thing to happen to her. Even if she was jealous of Lilly for being the one Oliver loved, Lilly was like her sister, and would always be. She needed someone to help her to hold on while Oliver was on tour and put up with her loneliness. And even if it meant her own suffering would increase, Miley was determined to be that person. She knew how hard it was to be apart from the one you love, and she would never want Lilly to go through that. Besides, even if she had gone back to Tennessee for good, Travis would be unlikely to accept having a second go at a relationship with her. After all, they had broken up because he'd realized that Miley didn't return his feelings. And even if he accepted dating her again, sooner or later Miley wouldn't handle having a relationship with him. Using Jake to forget her feelings for Oliver had been hard enough, but using Travis for the same mean would be unbearable. He was too nice for her to use him like that. He deserved to find someone who loved him for real, and who loved him the same.

"Miley? You there?" Lilly repeated. "You are seriously starting to weird me out."

Again, Miley forced herself away from her thoughts.

"That dream must have been a weird one, if you're always zoning out like that." Lilly remarked.

"Sorry, Lilly," Miley said. "I'll help you decide on which outfit to wear."

Then, as a sudden thought came to her mind, she added, "But before I do that, let me ask you something."

After she was sure she had Lilly's attention, Miley said what she wanted to say.

"Why are you thinking about which outfit to wear so soon, Lilly? After all, Oliver's plane only lands at 6:00 p.m., and we have to go to school before."

"I want to look perfectly for my Ollie-pop!" Lilly insisted.

Miley couldn't help herself but to be awed. It seemed like just yesterday Lilly was the tomboy who didn't care about dressing nice and skateboarded through the front porch of Miley's beach house. Apparently, time did go by too fast.

Fortunately, Lilly didn't notice her look.

"You of all people should know that," Lilly added, the sentence sounding as an afterthought she didn't really intend for Miley to listen to.

Miley knew what Lilly meant. After all, she had dated at least twice the guys Lilly had, without counting those she had had crushes on. Or pretended to, anyway. Every guy she had ever dated or pretended to have a crush on had been an attempt at distracting herself from Oliver. If she had only dated the guys she ever had feelings for, she still wouldn't have gone on a date by now, nor would she have gone back to Jake so many times after they broke up for the first time.

"Or have you spent so much time without a boyfriend that you don't even remember what it's like to want to impress a guy?" Lilly teased.

Alright, that had been a low blow, even if Lilly was certain to have used it only to see if she could get Miley less distracted. But it didn't have any logic to it. She had only broken up with Jesse about two weeks ago. Of course she still remembered what it was like to impress a guy, even if she hadn't truly had the will to do so ever since she had lost Oliver to Lilly.

"No, I haven't," she said. She hoped this time she hadn't taken too long to answer. "I only think that you don't have to go through such trouble dressing up for Oliver when he loves you for who you are."

Miley was surprised she didn't wince after saying such a thing. Saying out loud that Oliver loved another girl was excruciatingly painful when compared to only knowing of that fact. It had been the hardest thing she'd done this morning. But she knew she was right, and it was the only thing she had managed to think of to stop Lilly from continuing her teasing.

And then, just to end both matters there, Miley added, "But if you want to know which outfit I think it's the best, wear the outfit Oliver and I bought you. And wear the sandals we bought with it."

Lilly raised an eyebrow.

"You're not telling me that just to get me off of your back, are you?"

Miley put on the best and most honest smile she could force herself to make.

"No, I'm not. I'm saying that because I really believe that outfit is the best."

Even Miley herself was awed at how real her words had sounded. No wonder _Indiana Joannie_ had won so many awards. If Miley could put on this facade every day of her life, with no breaks, no interruptions, and no guidelines, acting for cameras with a script to tell her what to do was no problem.

Like it had happened for so long now, her acting talents convinced Lilly.

"Thanks," her best friend replied as she grabbed the blue top. But, right before she could get it off the hanger, Miley added, "And I also suggest you wear something else when we go to school. Then, after classes end, you can come back home, take a shower, and only then put that outfit on. School ends at 12:00 a.m today, you have more than enough time."

Miley did her best to give an encouraging smile after she finished her sentence. After all, every detail counted to make her performance convincing.

"Thanks for the idea," Lilly said, before she went to her closet to put the hanger with the outfit back in and take another out.

Again, Lilly hadn't suspected anything. That was good – it meant Miley's mask hadn't slipped. Although she was a talented actress, over the last weeks Miley had felt that her skill to play the role of the best-friend she had always been and act as if nothing was wrong with her was slipping away. In part, it was because she was tired from having to do it for so long. But most of all, knowing that Lilly and Oliver were together was becoming too painful for her to be able to hide her real feelings.

But now wasn't the time to think about that. She had to go to school now. At least, in regards to that, she could be as annoyed as she wanted. But still, she felt far less annoyed than usual. It didn't surprise her in the slightest. After all, the worry of having to face Oliver this afternoon and act as though she had missed her best friend and nothing more occupied so much of her mind that it was a wonder she had _any _emotional room for anything else.

* * *

After showering, brushing her teeth, putting on an outfit she didn't care to pick out, and giving her hair the most decent brush she could, Miley dragged herself to the kitchen to get breakfast. She wasn't hungry, but she knew that if she didn't eat something, she wouldn't have enough strength to keep her mask on.

Lilly was already there, sitting at her usual place, and still giddy as everything from the idea of Oliver returning today. Her father was also there, setting a plate with a pile of pancakes on it down on the table, while Lori put some ice cubes into a pitcher of orange juice.

Miley's gaze lingered on her soon-to-be-stepmother for an instant. Although it had already been a month since Lori had moved in – and more than four months since the school nurse and her father had started dating – Miley still couldn't help but to find it a little bit awkward to see a woman her father's age living here, just like she couldn't help but to find it weird that they, at this age, were moving so quickly in their relationship. But the first feeling was one that came from no more than lack of habit, and Miley knew it wouldn't take long for her to get totally used to Lori's constant presence. As for the second, Miley had simply accepted that, if the two had decided they were a match, there was no reason for them to wait. After all, they were old enough for not to take steps like that without being sure of what they were doing.

Her father raised his head when he heard her coming.

"Mornin', bud," her father said.

"Good morning, Miley," Lori greeted.

Miley only let out an unintelligible mumble in response, and plopped down on her chair.

"Why that face, bud?" her father asked as he slid a few pancakes into Lilly's plate. "Didn't you get a good sleep last night?"

"Is there anything wrong?" Lori added as she served Miley a glass of orange juice.

From the look on Lori's face, it was obvious that the school nurse already knew the answer, just like she already knew what would be wrong. Not long ago, the two of them had become close enough for Miley to talk to her about her love-issues in regards to Oliver and Lilly. However, they couldn't do that with Lilly around.

But Miley had to say something now. After all, both her father and Lilly were looking at her with worried looks on their faces.

"No, there's nothing wrong," Miley said, answering the first excuse that came to her mind. "I only slept badly because I had the weirdest dream ever."

"What sort of dream?" her father asked.

Miley took some time to answer. That dream had been so weird that she couldn't classify it in any specific category.

"The weird sort," Miley managed.

Miley knew without any of them saying that no one had gotten satisfied with her answer.

"How weird?" Lilly insisted. When Miley took more than a moment to answer, she added, "Come on, Miley, you said you would tell about it at breakfast. Did you forget it?"

"No, I didn't forget it," she said in the most pointed tone she could summon. "And for the record, it was really weird. Even weirder than the one I had where you liked Jackson."

Lilly grimaced as soon as Miley finished that sentence.

"Ewww," she said. "Don't tell me about it. I get sick just from thinking about that one."

Miley couldn't really blame her for that. The prospect of dating Jackson had been enough to make a lot of girls sick. But now that her brother was brought up, Miley noticed something weird about the whole situation. Jackson hadn't said anything in response to Lilly's remark.

"Speaking of Jackson, where is he?" she asked. "Is he even home, for that matter?"

"Not that I know of," her father replied. "He went out with Siena last night, and as far as I know, he didn't come back. Probably he spent the night out with her."

"If he was here, he would have already rushed down the stairs and shouted something in response to what you and Lilly said," Lori pointed out.

"Good point," her father said.

Miley agreed. Jackson had a knack to hear people talking about him from wherever he was in the house, and he always answered back when he didn't like what was said about him. If he hadn't answered, it had to be because of what Lori had said.

"Right," Lilly said. "But we weren't talking about Jackson. We were talking about Miley's dream."

Miley grumbled. It looked like Lilly was much more dead-set on finding out what the dream had been about now that her outfit-issue had been solved.

"Come on, Miley, tell us about it," Lilly insisted.

"But only if you wish to, bud," her father cut in, giving Lilly a look. "If it was some sort of horrible nightmare you don't want to discuss, we'll respect that."

"Yes," Lilly added in a slightly embarrassed manner, obviously sorry for being so insistently curious. "Of course we will."

Lori nodded, showing that she thought the same.

Miley gave a small, but reassuring smile at her father.

"No, it wasn't a nightmare, Daddy," she said. "It was only a weird dream."

However, she could already see that, no matter the sort of dream it had been, she would have to tell it, if she wanted to get this matter solved for good.

* * *

After eating two pancakes and drinking a glass of orange juice, Miley was in better condition to tell the 'story' for lack of a better term. But just in case, it was better to do a small warning first. If nothing else, it would prevent some interruptions.

"First of all, I want you all to know that I don't remember every single detail of my dream by now," she said. "But I do remember how it started, how it ended, and most of what happened in the between."

"Let's start from the beginning then," her father said. "How did it start?"

"With me wanting to tell Jesse that I was Hannah Montana, and not knowing how to do it."

As she said that, Miley couldn't help but to think how it had been a good thing she and her father had revealed the Hannah secret to Lori before the school nurse moved in. Even if Miley hadn't felt entirely comfortable with it at the time, she had known that with Lori living at the house, she wouldn't take long to figure it out by herself. And if Lori found iout on her own, no one could know what would have ensued. Besides, Miley had accepted to share that secret with Siena, so she didn't have any moral for not to do the same with Lori.

Fortunately, things had gone well. Although Lori had been surprised at first, she had taken things better than anyone could have expected – to the point where she didn't take more than a week to tag along to Hannah Montana events, under the alter-ego of Joan Kaufman (which consisted of a wig of black, mid-back length hair, and designer's outfits).

"However, when I was going to tell the secret to Jesse, he said that he already knew," Miley carried on. "So, I decided to invite him back to the band so that we could be together more often."

Even as she said it, Miley couldn't help but to think how weird it had been, to tell her secret to Jesse so easily, even considering that all of it had been a dream. She had taken years to tell Lilly and Oliver, and she had only told Jake because she'd felt guilty after he revealed his own secret to her.

"Oh, and by the way, he recognized Lola," Miley said to Lilly.

"Really?" Lilly asked, beaming with excitement.

In spite of herself, Miley couldn't help but to smile.

"Yes, really,"

Lilly's smile widened even more. She always got excited beyond herself whenever someone knew who Lola was, as though she expected so little people to know that she believed every one counted. But that had never been the case. With Lola's unique style, a lot of people knew her. Even Lori, who wasn't very informed about celebrities, had known that Lola was Hannah Montana's best friend.

Miley decided to carry on with her story before Lilly could remember anything else to say.

"Either way, Jesse messed things up when I was performing live on _The Tonight Show with Jay Leno_, and kissed me as Hannah. Jay Leno said Hannah and Jesse were America's new sweethearts. But later on Jesse hugged me as Miley in public. Because there were a lot of witnesses, the whole world thought he was betraying Hannah – and he broke up with me because of it."

Her father's jaw clenched at that last part. Miley didn't get surprised. He always took a long time to forget any boy that 'broke his baby girl's heart' to paraphrase him. Even if she was only telling about a dream, it didn't make things any easier – for him, anyway.

Miley wondered what he would do if he had known the reason why the real-world Jesse had broken up with her. At least, Jesse had a decent reason to break up with her in the dream. In the real world, he had broken up with her because she was terrible in bed – and he'd only tried it with her once. For that matter, it hadn't even been 'breaking up' because it hadn't even been a real relationship. But if her father had gotten to know any of those things, he would have mounted Jesse's head and put it up as a trophy in the living room.

"Either way, I got really upset, because in the dream, I was, for some reason, really in love with Jesse."

Her father and Lori nodded, not fazed in the slightest, but Lilly seemed confused.

"That's weird," Lilly said. "You speak as though you never loved him in real life."

Miley cursed at her bad choice of words. Even if Lilly was somewhat naïve at times, she was good at paying attention and pick up details when she chose to.

"I did love him in real life," Miley said. "But not as much as I seemingly loved him in the dream."

A pure lie. In real life, Jesse simply had enough bad luck to be another of the guys she used as a distraction to try to forget about her feelings for Oliver. In a way, it had even been a good thing that he was one of those guys who got a different girl like others got a new shirt at the mall. Not to mention that the only 'bad luck' he'd truly had was that she was a dreadful kisser, and even worse in bed. But how could she be good at either of those things, if she didn't do them with the boy she loved?

Not wanting to drown herself in those thoughts, and wanting to move on before Lilly started making even more questions, Miley forced herself to continue.

"Either way, things got even worse when both Lilly and I got letters from Stanford. Apparently, in our dream, both of us sent applications there, because we wanted to go to college there."

Lilly burst in laughter at that part, as though Miley had told her the funniest joke known to mankind. If Miley felt anything like laughing, she would do the same. After all, laughter was the only thing those two sentences called for. Stanford was a great college, but it wasn't the place where either Lilly or Miley wanted to go.

"I know it was stupid," Miley said when Lilly stopped laughing. "But it was a dream. Most of them don't have any logic."

"I know that," Lilly agreed. "But dreams are also meant to be brain activity driven by your subconscious, or so I heard. Your subconscious should know that we want to go to CUNY."

When Lilly said that, Miley lowered her eyes to avoid the pointed looks her father and Lori gave her, almost like a child caught telling a lie. However, Lilly had been the one telling the lie, although she'd done so unknowingly. Lilly did want to go to CUNY, but it was only because Oliver wanted to go to Juilliard. Lilly was going to CUNY so she and him could be together in New York. She was also counting on Miley to go there, but Miley had different plans. Plans that her father and Lori already knew of, but that Lilly ignored. However, she wasn't going to inform Lilly of that fact now. She had an idea of how her best friend would react at the news, and she didn't want to see it. Besides, she had to tell it to Oliver too, it was better if she told both of them at the same time. That way, she would only have to do it once.

"Well, we can't always control our subconscious," Miley managed to say, while she hoped she hadn't been silent for too long. "Either way, can I move on now?"

After her three listeners nodded, Miley carried on.

"Like I was saying, we both got letters from Stanford. Lilly had been accepted there – but I hadn't."

"What did you do?" Lori asked.

That part was one of those where several details had already slipped away, but Miley still remembered enough to be able to tell how things had been in an accurate – if not detailed – manner.

"Long story short, I went to Stanford to complain. The woman there said my application wasn't good enough – so I tried to make it better by telling her I had been Hannah Montana's assistant. I even dressed up as Hannah later on to convince the woman I had been telling the truth, but it did little good. She said that the only way I could get in without going through the waiting list was if somehow, Hannah and I were the same person."

"What did you do after that?" Lilly asked.

Miley took a breath before answering.

"Well, I was about to just reveal the Hannah secret on the spot, but I didn't do it. Instead, I just came back home, feeling as though all of my dreams had been crushed."

Miley took a small break to cut a piece of a third pancake and take it to her mouth. Even if it had only been a dream, the feeling of defeat had been so real then that even the memory of it was enough to bother her for a moment.

"What happened next, bud?" her father asked.

"Next, I came back home, and explained everything that happened at Stanford. And Lilly, being the great friend she is, said that she would give up going to Stanford and go to Malibu Community College instead, so that we could go to college together," Miley carried on.

Again, both her father and Lori gave her pointed looks, but Miley tried to pretend she didn't notice them. Instead, she focused on how, at least, that bit hadn't stirred any reaction from Lilly, which meant she thought that was something she would do. Miley had never doubted that, but, just like in the dream, she wouldn't want Lilly to do that. Well, more in real life than in the dream. For some reason, Oliver's tour had lasted much more than those six months in the dream, and from what she remembered, he'd pursued instead his career instead of going to Juilliard. Also, in the dream, she hadn't struggled with her feelings for Oliver not even for an instant. It was as if they didn't exist.

How her subconscious hadn't remembered to include them in the dream, Miley didn't know. But she wasn't going to dwell on that. She had to avoid as many Oliver-related thoughts as possible until 6.00 p.m.

Fortunately, she was saved from further thinking about the matter when Lilly made another question, after eating a pancake and drinking a glass of orange juice.

"Did the dream end there, or did something else happen?"

Giving a sigh of relief as she realized that Lilly hadn't thought her pause was too long, Miley continued.

"No, the dream didn't end there,"

She took a gulp of her glass. "And before you ask, what happened next is that Jesse came to apologize and to go out with me. You agreed on going with us. But then, I started hearing both yours and Jesse's real thoughts, instead of your comforting, but fake words."

Lilly's look became wary at those words.

"What were our real thoughts about, Miley?"

Miley took a slice of pancake to her mouth and chewed it before she answered.

"In your case, they were about how going out didn't compensate giving up going to the college of my dreams because of my Hannah secret. In Jesse's case, they were about how he didn't want to be mobbed by Hannah fans for having broken their idol's heart."

"What did you do?" Lori asked.

Miley wiped her mouth clean with the napkin, and carried on.

"Well… I did the only thing I figured I could do."

"And that means..." her father pressed, not looking like he was enjoying the angle things were taking – even if it had been no more than the story of a dream.

"It means that Lilly's and Jesse's thoughts made me feel so guilty that I decided to be the one to give up something."

Her father's eyes widened.

"Does that mean…" he started.

"Yes." Miley explained. "It means that I told the world that I was Hannah Montana."

The alarmed look on her father's face at those words was even worse than the one he'd had that time when the reporter had come to their previous house looking for Hannah Montana, shortly after Jake had started attending Seaview High. From his expression, anyone else would judge that Miley had told the secret to the world without any further warning just as though she was throwing a pebble into a pond. In spite of herself, Miley couldn't help but to be amused by it.

"Calm down, Daddy," she said, a smile on her face. "It was only a dream."

"I know, bud," her father whispered as he slowly gathered his wits. "I just… well, I don't know what came over me."

"Did something else happen?" Lilly asked, more interested in the story of Miley's dream than anyone else.

"Yes, but I don't remember much of it," Miley replied. "I only remember that shortly after I told the Hannah secret, I went to _Good Morning America _and was interviewed by Robin Roberts about my double life. Then I had to be saved by Aunt Dolly in her helicopter after paparazzi and reporters started hounding me. Then I had to deal with the fact I could get no more quiet tea nights with Mamaw. And to finish the whole thing, I got an offer from Steven Spielberg and Tom Cruise to make a movie in Paris, but gave it up so I could go to Stanford with Lilly – even considering that Amber and Ashley were also there."

Miley knew she had told a very summed-up version, but those random bits of information had been more than enough for everyone to get dumbfounded looks on their faces. Not that she could blame them. After all, the dream didn't have any logic to it. And although most of the dream's details had already slipped away from her memory, Miley remembered some very weird ones. One was that the interview with Robin Roberts seemed to have taken place after her graduation, judging from the shot of her at graduation that appeared on the studio's screen. But then the whole 'Mamaw segment' had started at her graduation day, and at the same time, in some incomprehensible way, appeared to have taken place after her being interviewed by Robin Roberts. Also, in the 'Mamaw/graduation day segment, Lilly's father had been there, but Lilly's mother hadn't. Where was the logic in that?

Nowhere. After all, like she had said herself, dreams weren't meant to have any logic. Even if some dreams had a logical basis, the one she had last night hadn't been one of those.

"Well, that sure was a weird dream, Miley," Lilly finally said.

"Weird with capital W," her father added. "I wonder where it came from."

"You didn't give Miley any of your Loco Hot Cocoa, did you Robbie Ray?" Lori demanded, a quite stern look on her face. "Because if you did, you already have the answer to your own question."

A small bitter-sweet smile escaped Miley's lips. Whenever Miley spoke about having weird dreams back when her mother had been alive, her mother had used to make similar questions, in exactly the same way Lori was making this one. At times, it still amazed her how similar her mother and Lori were when it came to certain things. Similarities that were all personality-wise, of course, because their physical looks were completely different.

"No, Lori, I didn't give Miles any Loco Hot Cocoa," her father replied, his hands raised in a placating gesture.

Miley wasn't sure of how much Lori believed him, but fortunately, the school nurse didn't say anything. She only turned her attention back to her breakfast, like everyone else sitting at the table. However, there was one person who ate twice faster than usual: Lilly.

The gesture was familiar to Miley. Whenever Lilly tried to get distracted of something, she always looked for another thing to do, and she did it hard and fast, if not well. At the time, the only thing she could do was eat – and Miley would bet all of her Hannah money on how Lilly was trying to get distracted from her giddiness when it came to her boyfriend coming back from tour.

In order to stop the train of thoughts about Oliver before it even started walking, Miley turned her head aside to focus on something else. But the first sight she caught was the looks her father and Lori exchanged during breakfast. They looked happy and contended with themselves in exactly the same way her father and mother had so many years ago. Again, Miley had to look away – only for her eyes to catch sight of Jackson's empty chair this time. For sure, he was off having breakfast with Siena somewhere.

Miley turned to the two pancakes that were left on her plate, and grabbed both of them in her hand like a sandwich. She knew her father preferred to have them eating pancakes using a fork and a knife, but eating them in this way worked better to distract her from her thoughts – and her problem. A problem that at first, had started with having to deal with Oliver and Lilly together, but had expanded to having to deal on a daily basis with not one, but three happy couples. She knew she was being selfish, and she blamed herself for it, but she couldn't stop herself from feeling that way. Her father had Lori, Jackson had Siena, and although Oliver hadn't returned yet, Miley could tell his relationship with Lilly had stayed as strong as ever during the tour. Miley was the only one in the house as lonely as a single grasshopper in the middle of Tennessee's meadows. And from the looks of it, she was going to stay that way for a long time. No guy lasted long with her.

Miley knew why, just like she knew she was the only one who could do something about it. If she tried to truly move on from her feelings for Oliver, and tried to get to know some of those other guys, to truly love him in the best way she could, perhaps she would keep one of them around for long – maybe even learn to fall in love with him, and end up loving him for real. But she couldn't help herself. She couldn't just move on from her feelings for Oliver. She had tried, but she had always failed. And although she knew feeling that way for him was more pointless than trying to squeeze an elephant through the eye of a needle, she had given up trying anyway. Besides, her feelings for Oliver had been a too big part of her live over the last years, running neck to neck with Hannah Montana and her career. She felt that if she was to let go of them, she would only have her Hannah career left, and little else. And in place of those feelings, there would only be one big hole, impossible to fill.

Miley cursed inwardly at her failure in avoiding thoughts about her feelings for Oliver. The day had barely started, and she already felt close to letting herself fall apart, thanks to still being tired as hell after her bad night's sleep, to the thought of having to see Oliver in a matter of hours and to having to act as though she was only his best friend. That mix of things drained what little strength she had left with surprising speed. Miley hoped she had some undiscovered reservations deep inside her – otherwise, she would collapse before she was even half-way through the day.

By her side, Lilly had already finished her breakfast, and was already at the door, with her backpack on, still quivering in excitement. Miley looked away – and this time, what her eyes caught was a framed picture of her mother at the coffee table, frozen for eternity in that kind, dazzling smile that only her mother had ever been able to give.

The sight of the picture made Miley's mind travel back in time, to the first weeks after her mother's funeral. She remembered the huge hole she had felt in her life for months. She remembered how it had felt impossible to get back up and carry on living. But most of all, she remembered the thing her family – particularly her father and Grandma Ruby – had most often repeated during that time. They had said that time made everything easier. She had tried to keep that in mind during the first year after her mother's death. And since the day Lilly and Oliver had left her living room after she'd gotten them to reconcile, Miley had done her utter best to keep that in mind. But she had already come to one conclusion: saying that time made everything easier wasn't always true. For her, things hadn't gotten any easier since the day Lilly and Oliver had gotten back together.

And they were never going to get easier. They would only get harder as time passed. And there was nothing she could do about it.

* * *

**Well, there it is. Now you know why I said that this fanfic wasn't an AU - because I took a little bit of a radical option and made the last five episodes of the show a dream that Miley had. It seemed like a valid enough option when we consider that in 'He Ain't a Hottie, He's My Brother' not only was the whole episode a dream, but there was also a dream inside a dream. **

**I'm sorry for this take on things, but the truth was that in order for this story to work like I wanted to, Miley couldn't have told her secret. However, I wanted to make it seem like this could have taken place within the show's continuity, and this was the only option I remembered. I apologize to any Miley/Jesse fans that may be reading this, both for making what she did for him a dream and for the reason I said she broke up with her, but the truth is that in 'He Could Be the One', he's portrayed as a guy who 'changes' girlfriends often, so I think the way I'm portraying him as is valid enough. **

**So... you get a little bit of plot to keep you wondering. I hope you enjoy it. **

**I look forward to your reviews.**


	3. Chapter 2: Happy For Most Reunion

**Well, thank you to all the people who took the time to review this fanfic. Here is a new update for your reading pleasure. At least, I hope so, because to be honest, I'm not very confident in this chapter. But I decided that, if I kept working on it, I would probably lose my nerve to update it. **

**So, here it is.**

* * *

**Chapter 2 – Happy (For Most) Reunion **

The level of human activity in the Los Angeles International Airport was as high as it usually was on late Friday afternoons. Everyone there appeared to have something to do, whether it was running over to greet a family member or a friend who had just arrived, rushing to catch an airplane on time, going to get luggage after arriving from a long journey, waiting in line to buy an airplane ticket, or doing some other thing that was within the normal activities performed at one of California's main airports.

Standing apart from the people that scurried in different directions like ants heading for scattered crumbs, Miley Stewart leaned against the wall with her arms folded, for the most part unaware of what went on around her. She could only think about the fact that Oliver was about to appear, and about how she couldn't see that as a good thing, no matter the perspective she tried to assume. At best, Oliver's presence meant that her emotional turmoil would restart. At worst, it meant that she would let her mask slip, end up revealing her feelings to the world, and lose both Oliver's and Lilly's friendships in the process.

Even worse than any of those two things, however, was knowing that she owed all the turmoil she was going through to herself. If she hadn't fallen in love with Oliver in the first place, she would never be going through this. True, like her father used to say, no one could control who he or she fell in love with, and indeed, Miley had never 'wanted' to fall in love with Oliver. But she had, and he hadn't. Instead, he'd fallen in love with Lilly. And as if that wasn't bad enough, Miley could neither let go of her feelings for him nor be less bitter about the fact he was with Lilly. She had tried with all her might to be happy for the fact Oliver was with someone he loved, she had tried to move on from her feelings for him, and she had been trying it ever since Lilly and Oliver had started dating. And today she had spent her whole day trying ten times harder than she ever had before, while hoping with all her heart for some sort of miracle to happen, for her to be somehow capable of managing to do in less than a day what she had failed in doing during about a year and a half. Unfortunately, the day had gone by far too quickly for her taste. Between two classes that only lasted two hours each, trying to get Lilly's anxiety down, and helping her to get ready for Oliver's arrival, time seemed to be sucked away by a vacuum cleaner. And the miracle she had longed for hadn't arrived.

Not that Miley expected it. She hoped for it, but she didn't expect it. She could be only eighteen years old, but she knew that when people started thinking about miracles, it was because there was nothing to be done.

In an effort to distract herself from those thoughts, Miley unfolded her arms for a moment, and looked down at her wristwatch. According to it, Oliver's plane had landed more than ten minutes ago. However, for some reason unknown to her, the passengers still hadn't been let out. Registering the fact in her mind, Miley simply folded her arms again, not knowing whether to feel relieved or upset at the fact Oliver still hadn't appeared. On one hand, she wanted them to take even longer to let him and the other passengers out of the airplane, so that she wouldn't have to face an increase in her emotional turmoil so soon. On the other, the longer she waited here the more she risked letting her carefully prepared mask slip. Over the day, there had been many moments when Miley had almost let it fall, and now that Oliver was about to appear, it looked like someone had glued a ticking time-bomb underneath her mask, one that would explode as soon as she got a glimpse of Oliver.

But if Miley felt like she was about to explode, none of the other seven people waiting for her appeared to be anywhere near that state. Sure, Oliver's younger siblings, eleven-year-old Simon and nine-year-old Louise, were eager to see their big brother again, and quite upset about having to wait longer than expected for the passengers to get out of the plane. Fortunately, it was nothing their parents appeared to be having any problem dealing with. And Lilly, much to Miley's surprise, didn't seem to particularly mind the time Oliver was taking, in spite of her obvious eagerness to see him. It was a complete opposite from what her attitude had been all the way through the day. No doubts about whether he had betrayed her during his tour, no fears of him breaking up with her, no thinking he would find her ugly when they saw each other again. She just waited patiently, talking to Jackson and Siena to keep her mind busy in the meantime, and while the subject of their conversation seemed to be what could be keeping the passengers inside the airplane, Lilly didn't look anymore concerned or nervous than if she was talking about the weather.

Miley had no idea of why her brother and his girlfriend had decided to come along to greet Oliver, but she sure was grateful that they had done so. At least, it saved her the trouble of talking to Lilly herself.

Miley hated herself for thinking that way. She knew she should be the one talking to Lilly while they waited for Oliver to arrive. But she didn't think she could say as much as another word to Lilly without letting her mask drop, or risking to set off the time-bomb underneath it. Miley could hate herself for not talking to Lilly, but considering that the alternative was likely to be revealing her feelings for Oliver and risk throwing his life and Lilly's into jeopardy – not to mention putting herself through an emotional turmoil of a far worse kind – this was the lesser of the two evils. Still, it was horrible, to want to be Lilly's best friend with all her heart, and being eaten up from the inside by all the feelings she was repressing.

At least, while standing up quiet and with her arms crossed and without talking to anyone, Miley was able to repress her turmoil somewhat well. Maybe, if luck was on her side, neither Lilly nor anyone else would even remember she was here until Oliver's arrival, and her emotional turmoil would be subdued until then.

* * *

Miley didn't know how much time she spent lost in her thoughts and in the emotions that plagued her, but she knew that, right when her hope of no one remembering her until Oliver arrived was starting to become more solid, Lilly ruined it completely.

And it only took her one small sentence to do that.

"What do you say to that, Miley?" Lilly said all of a sudden.

At that sentence, Miley's head snapped up as though she had been awakened from a trance. Miley cursed herself for getting so lost in her thoughts, and for the fact Lilly had decided to talk to her right when the hope that no one would notice her until Oliver appeared was starting to become more real. And as if that wasn't bad enough by itself, now that Lilly had talked to her and gotten that sort of response, she was bound to think that something suspicious was going on, and Jackson and Siena would probably think the same thing. Fortunately, Oliver's parents were still busy trying to get the anxiousness of their other two children down, otherwise Miley would have the attention of seven people on her. But still, three people worried about her was too much of a danger to her mask.

Miley would have to be skilled to talk her way out of the trouble she had gotten herself in.

"Huh? What were you saying?" she finally said.

It was the only thing she figured she could say without putting herself into even more of a danger than she already was. She knew they were talking about why they could be taking so much time to let the passengers off the airplane, but that wasn't enough to give Lilly a convincing answer. After all, she hadn't heard any detail of the conversation Lilly was having with Jackson and Siena. Miley cursed at herself for being so lost in her thoughts.

The situation became worse when Lilly didn't answer her question, making one of her own instead.

"What's wrong with you, Miley?"

Miley tried her best to avoid the question.

"Why would you think anything was wrong with me?"

Lilly folded her arms. It was clear she didn't like Miley's answers.

"I'm your best friend," she stated. "I know when something's wrong with you."

Miley's mind rushed to find a convincing answer for Lilly, something that would at the same time sound convincing and harmless.

Miley knew it would be hard. She and Lilly had known each other for so long and had gotten so close during that period that it was nearly impossible for any of them to lie to the other convincingly. Miley would have to choose her words carefully, and hope for the best.

"Have you considered that you may be mistaken?" Miley finally said, voicing the only thing she could think of, trying to sound as convincing as possible. "I mean, like a very wise man once wrote, 'Everybody makes mistakes, everybody has those days'."

Lilly narrowed her eyes.

"Cheesy lines taken from Hannah's songs don't work on me, Miley," she said in an even voice that had an irritated edge to it. "And what's more, from the looks you've been having, it's clear you are the one who had a lot of 'those days' lately."

Oh well, it had been worth the shot. Her attempt could have failed, but if she hadn't said anything, the result would be the same. Still, she couldn't allow herself to say something wrong too many times. If that happened, convincing Lilly would end up being impossible.

She again tried her best to come up with a convincing excuse, but only a few seconds after Lilly finished her sentence, Jackson decided to join the conversation.

"Lilly's right, Miles," he said. "You haven't been yourself lately."

_Oh, not you too!_ Miley thought, barely repressing herself from blurting that out loud. Even Jackson had noticed Miley wasn't acting 'normal' – whatever that word meant in his head. And Jackson wasn't exactly the person Miley spent the most time around, or someone who took care to spend a lot of time paying attention to her.

Miley wanted to give him some sort of excuse, but the only thing that got out of her lips was, "Why do you say that?"

Jackson rubbed his chin with his thumb and forefinger, and asked in a mockingly thoughtful tone, "Well, where do you want me to begin?"

Before Miley could say anything, Jackson answered both her question and his own, counting off his fingers as he spoke.

"You haven't said a word during the drive to the airport, you haven't said a word since we arrived, and you always seem lost in your thoughts."

Miley tried her best to dodge the subject.

"And why must that mean by force that there's something wrong with me?" she asked.

"Because it's nothing like you," Jackson said. "I'm your big brother, Miles, I know you better than that."

_Unfortunately._ A voice said in the back of Miley's mind.

Miley hushed the annoying voice with a mental effort, trying her best not to clench her teeth in the process. Even if Jackson was annoying as hell at times, she had already learned he was the brother she wanted to have – and all of his teasing put aside, he was a great brother. It wasn't unfortunate that he knew her well, nor that he cared about her. If anything was unfortunate, it was the fact that Miley had allowed herself to make all those mistakes. To keep a secret as precious as the one she had, there was no room for mistakes. If she made any, it would be revealed. And it would be because of herself, not because of Jackson, or of Lilly, or of anyone else.

Again, Miley didn't have time to find an answer before someone else decided to put two cents in. This time, it was Siena.

"Please don't be mad at me for saying this, but I think Jackson's right, Miley," Siena said in a gentle tone. "You're not your usual self."

Panic swelled up inside her. Even Siena, who hadn't known her for that long, could tell Miley was not acting 'normal'. Her mask should be much closer to slipping off than she had thought. It would be better if she fixed it up quickly, otherwise it would fall off for good.

As if she didn't have enough trouble with that, Siena decided to make her a question, "Please don't get mad for me asking this, but is there anything wrong with Hannah's career?"

"Don't talk so loud!" Miley whispered. "They don't need to know that Hannah Montana's in the airport!"

In spite of her words, Miley knew her concern was groundless. All the seven people she'd come with knew that Miley was Hannah Montana, and the airport was too full of noise for Siena's voice to have carried very far. Besides, it was obvious that no one around had any intention of focusing on eavesdropping private conversations. She had said that as no more than an attempt to drain out her nervousness and anxiousness. Nevertheless, Siena said, in the same hushed tone Miley had used, "Sorry."

Miley waved Siena's apology off. After all, if anyone needed to apologize, it was herself.

"Don't worry," she said. "I guess I overreacted a bit. And for the record, no, I'm not mad at you for asking that."

Then, struck by a sudden inspiration, Miley tried her best to keep that line of conversation, "But either way, why would you think there was something wrong with Hannah's career?"

Inwardly, Miley hoped Siena's answer would allow her to keep a long conversation with the bikini-model. Maybe Lilly would get focused on something else if Miley talked to Siena for enough time.

"Because I've seen some of my bikini-model friends with similar looks on their faces," Siena explained. "All of them had them because they were really stressed about something, and on most cases, the reason for that was the trouble their careers were having."

Siena paused, as if she was giving Miley enough time to soak her words in.

"I'm not a celebrity per se, but I think I'm right in saying that being a celebrity is much more demanding than being a bikini-model," she carried on.

Miley nodded, trying her best to act as though she had merely understood what Siena said. But inwardly, she was getting scared.

While Siena hadn't told her anything new, Miley had managed to pick up a concerning piece of information from in-between Siena's lines: her mask was in imminent danger. Either that, or Siena was just smarter and more perceptive than Miley had imagined at first.

Miley had never thought that a smart girl would be dating Jackson for half the time Siena had done so. But perhaps that rule could only be applied only to the person her brother had been before he met Siena. After all, the two real flaws he had were being lazy and being a pig, two flaws that he had corrected some time after he started dating Siena. Which in fact meant that Siena had to be a smart, non-superficial girl in order to manage to look past those two big flaws.

_You can wonder about how smart Siena is later on. _Miley said to herself. _Now just get yourself out of this mess!_

And she'd better do that quickly, because Jackson looked like he was getting even more worried.

"Don't worry, there's nothing wrong with Hannah's career," Miley said in her best reassuring tone, addressing Jackson, Siena, and Lilly at the same time. "Sure, it's growing more tiring, but that's only because having to be a superstar while trying to get good grades in your senior year is not an easy task. I'm not stressed at all – I'm only a little bit tired."

Siena looked quite convinced, and, fortunately, Jackson looked less worried. However, he didn't seem to be fully convinced himself.

"If that's the case, shouldn't you tell Dad to cancel tomorrow's concert?" he asked. "I mean, if you're that stressed because of Hannah..."

Trying her best not to be puzzled at her brother's rather atypical concern, Miley quickly cut him off.

"Don't worry, Jackson. I only need to sleep properly tonight and I'll be ready for three of those concerts in a row if I have to."

She tried her best to say that in a tone that was at the same time reassuring, calm, and normal, while she kept cursing at herself over and over again for having let her mask slip so much, and for not having enough emotional energy to keep it up efficiently anymore.

Fortunately, it looked like she still had enough energy to put on a good act, because Jackson was convinced enough to not press the matter. Instead, he just turned to Siena, and the two of them started talking. Their voices were too low for Miley to listen to what they were saying, but she knew that even if she could listen to their conversation, it most certainly was about something that she wouldn't be interested in.

However, from the look Lilly gave her, it was obvious that she, unlike Jackson and Siena, wasn't convinced. Instead, she just kept giving Miley a probing look that made her more uncomfortable than she had been in a long time.

And in fact, Miley's excuse hadn't been the best one. She could choose her appearances with much more freedom than other celebrities, and although she couldn't allow either performances or public appearances to become too rare if she didn't want Hannah to slip out of memory, she certainly didn't need them to become as frequent as they had become recently. As of late, Miley had been pushing herself beyond her limits when it came to juggling Hannah's concerts and appearances with her study-time. But she had no other choice. Hannah's concerts were the only thing that allowed Miley to truly get her mind off of her feelings for Oliver. However, they were becoming less efficient with time, so Miley had been trying to have more of them as time passed. And because her father only allowed Hannah events while she kept her grades up, she had also been studying like mad. As a result of that, both her father and Lori were growing ever more worried about the possibility of her having a nervous breakdown. And although most of the time Lilly was lost either in missing Oliver or in talking to him on the phone, she had also begun to be worried recently.

Even Miley herself was worried about that issue. She knew she couldn't hold up the pace she'd established for much longer. But at this point, if she cut back on Hannah concerts even a tiny bit, she would just let the truth about her feelings for Oliver spill over.

While Miley kept entertaining those thoughts, Lilly walked closer to her, with her arms folded – a sign that she was quite upset.

"In case you didn't realize it already, that excuse may have worked on Jackson, but it didn't work on me," Lilly insisted, still giving her that look that did nothing to ease her discomfort. "And for the record, even if there isn't anything wrong with Hannah's career, you may want to cut back on it a little bit. With all the Hannah events you're having, it's a miracle you're still standing."

Miley did her best not to look worried. Ever since she had started making the Hannah events ever more frequent, Lilly had been growing ever more worried, and had often tried convincing Miley to have less Hannah events. But Miley had always brushed the matter off, and Lilly had been too worried with other things to give that matter a lot of her attention. However, it seemed like this time it would be different – unless Miley put a stop to her concern.

"Don't worry about it," Miley said in a dismissing voice. "I'm tough, I can handle it."

Lilly made a face that would make anyone think she had just been told that the Bigfoot was sleeping in her bed.

"Tough? Handle it?" she repeated. "Miley, what you're putting yourself through is humanly impossible to bear! You juggle a normal life with a celebrity's career – a career that only grows more successful as time passes, I might add. You're not going to handle it!"

Much to Miley's relief, Lilly was being careful enough not to shout, in spite of her obvious annoyance at what Miley was saying. Still, Miley was growing ever more desperate, and her resistance to the turmoil kept weakening. If she didn't manage to convince Lilly soon, she would break and let everything spill out.

"If that was inhumane, I wouldn't be here," Miley said, her tone adamant. "I'm here, so of course I can handle it." Then, a hint of her tiredness breaking through, she added, "I just have a lot on my mind, but that's all."

"And whatever you have on your mind, it's not Hannah-related, right?" Lilly insisted. "You're only using Hannah as a mean to have something else on your mind, I bet."

This time, Miley couldn't help but to let some of her panic escape onto her face. Lilly was much more on the mark now than she had ever been during the rest of the conversation. Some more, and she'd actually understand the real issue.

"Why you would use Hannah for such a thing, is beyond me," Lilly carried on. "After all, you have a best friend to talk to right by your side! We shared everything since we met! I thought there were no secrets between us!"

Although Lilly's voice was still low, her tone was so stern that Miley winced.

"Well, apparently, I was wrong!" Lilly spat. "My friendship doesn't mean that much to you, after all."

That comment was all it took for tears to appear on Miley's eyes, some of them almost spilling over. If Lilly had any idea of what Miley did every day of her life to keep their friendship, she wouldn't be talking like that. But Miley couldn't find it in herself to blame her. Lilly was only trying to measure up to the sisterly bond she and Miley were supposed to share, and it was natural she felt betrayed at knowing Miley was hiding something so big from her.

But just why did she have to be so concerned? Why did she have to feel so betrayed? Why couldn't she just think about Oliver and forget Miley existed?

Miley couldn't help it anymore. A sob escaped her throat, and a few tears flowed down her eyes. Miley wiped them away as fast as she could. Crying would only make the situation worse.

But, as though it had been a spell, her sob was all it took for Lilly's look shift into a remorseful and concerned one. It was obvious that she knew she had gone too far.

"I'm sorry, Miles," Lilly said as she placed a hand on Miley's shoulder. "I didn't mean to make you cry – and I sure didn't want to force you to tell me anything. You tell me about it when you're ready to."

Miley nodded, trying her best not to let any more of her tears and sobs to come out.

"But why can't you tell me what's wrong with you?" Lilly was practically begging by now. "We're like sisters, we share everything I can think of, why can't you just tell me what's bothering you?"

_Because it would destroy our friendship._ Miley thought as she swallowed what was left of her tears and sobs.

At least, if she said that, she wouldn't be lying.

But she couldn't say that. She couldn't tell her the truth.

Or could she? After all, she planned on finishing her friendship with Lilly and Oliver after senior year ended, at the latest.

As soon as the thought came to her, the urge to slam her head on the wall was so strong that Miley barely managed to repress it.

_What are you thinking?_ She scolded herself._ That option simply doesn't exist! End your friendship with Lilly and Oliver whenever you want, but that option just doesn't exist!_

It didn't. She wasn't mean enough to break Lilly's and Oliver's hearts, even if she wanted to end her friendship with them. Besides, she didn't exactly plan on finishing her friendship with Lilly and Oliver. She just wanted to turn it into a long-distance one, because she didn't want to go to college to New York with Lilly and Oliver. She had different plans for herself. She knew both of them – Lilly in particular – were going to be upset as hell about that, but she had to do it. Hopefully, without having Lilly and Oliver with her all the time, she wouldn't be always thinking about them.

But telling them the truth wasn't part of her plans. Even if she was going to turn their friendship into a long-distance one after senior year ended, Miley didn't want them to part on bad terms. Their friendship was too deep to end like that.

Praying that Lilly hadn't been growing impatient because of the time she had spent silent, Miley again tried her best to come up with some sort of answer. However, Lilly saved her the trouble by starting throwing guesses.

"Are you still upset because you've broken up with Jesse? Well, if that's the reason, I'm sorry to say this, but you had it coming. You've always known he was one of those guys who has no problem dating a different girl every month. You were practically begging for this to happen when you started dating him."

Miley knew that. She knew whenever she tried to pursue a relationship with a guy that she was counting on him to break up with her sooner or later. Jesse had been no exception. Even if Miley used to think that he had broken up with her because she was terrible in bed, the truth, in his exact words, was that he was breaking up with her 'because she wasn't into the relationship'. Yet again, it was true. The only two relationships she'd ever come anywhere near 'being into' were the ones she had with Jake and Travis, and that was only because she had actually tried to 'be into' those relationships. And even with those, she had failed.

Miley was brought out of her musings when she heard Lilly developing the subject further.

"Why did you do it, Miles? I seriously can't understand that. Were you just so desperate to get over Jake's betrayal that you just grabbed the first good-looking guy that appeared?"

From the way Lilly spoke, it appeared she was getting reasonably sure that she had discovered the reason behind Miley's trouble. While that wasn't exactly true, Miley decided to insist on the matter, using words as vague as possible along the way. It seemed to be the only chance she had to get Lilly off her back.

"No, Lilly, I wasn't that desperate to get over Jake's betrayal," she said. "To tell the truth, I was also pretty much expecting him to break up with me."

Trying her best to keep the line of conversation, she carried on, "In fact, by the third time I dated Jake, I expected him to break up with me from the beginning. As much as they say 'Third time's lucky' I didn't count on it during my third relationship with Jake."

"Then what is your problem?" Lilly insisted.

Miley's mind worked overtime to find a good enough excuse. But instead, she decided to speak about another problem she had, one that, although not as upsetting or ancient as losing Oliver to Lilly, also made her restless from time to time. The fact that everyone around her was finding life-mates. And it wasn't only her father, Jackson, and Lilly – she couldn't think of anyone in her class who didn't have a relationship with anyone. Amber, Ashley, Joannie – even Saint Sarah had a boyfriend, and word was that her relationship with him was going strong. Miley, however, had occasional boyfriends, and not only that didn't give her a very good reputation at school, from the way things were going, it looked like she would end up an old biddy who knits all day searching for ways to fill her empty social life, like Lilly had once said.

But that, she could live with, even if she didn't like it. After all, she was better off alone than with someone she didn't like, and she didn't want to spend her life collecting divorces, like so many people did these days. Besides, it was her own fault for not having moved on from Oliver.

_Will you stop thinking about Oliver? _Miley scolded herself. _You're meant to convince Lilly that there's nothing wrong with you, not to think about what IS wrong with you!_

Managing to tear herself away from those thoughts right on time for not to drown on them, Miley started speaking, all the while doing her utter best to sound convincing, and hoping she hadn't spent too much time silent.

"You want to know what my problem is, Lilly? Well, if you want to know, it's loneliness."

Lilly raised an eyebrow.

"Loneliness? What do you mean?"

Miley waved her arms into the air, doing her utter best to make a gesture of hopelesness.

"Just look at me, Lilly! I've been dating since I was thirteen, and since then I dated more guys than any girl from our class. And yet, none of them turned out as the right one for me. However, everyone else around me seems to find the right person as easily as you breathe, and most of them haven't dated for half as long as I have. You found Oliver, you're ready to spend all your life with him, and you only dated two boys before him. Jackson is happy with Siena, and while he went out with a lot of girls before her, he didn't get to have any real relationship with any of them. Even Daddy, who hardly dated since Mom died, found a woman good for him at the fourth try. And me – well, it just looks like wherever I turn, I'm just the perpetual third wheel, and there's nothing I can do to change that."

By now, any doubtful look was gone from Lilly's face. At least, it seemed that Miley had managed to fool her. Miley felt like she was going to vomit for having to lie to her best friend, but, like the saying went, 'truth hurts'. And although Miley was in a lot of pain herself right, she had to bear it, at least while Lilly didn't let go of the matter. Unfortunately, it didn't seem that she would let go of the matter so soon.

"You know that if you had let me and Oliver continue to looking for getting guys for you, perhaps you wouldn't be like that today, don't you?" Lilly asked with a raised eyebrow. Her tone was joking, but it was obvious there was a serious undercurrent to it.

"I don't want any boyfriend of mine to just be set up for me," Miley said. "I want to find him on my own."

"And yet you don't have any problems setting up dates for other people," Lilly said with a raised eyebrow and a somewhat conceited look on her face. "Don't you think that's a little bit hypocritical?"

Miley knew what Lilly meant. Her father and Lori were only dating because Miley had gotten them to know each other. Besides, she had tried to make Lori see her father as a good catch before that. But her father and Lori had chosen each other on their own. Miley hadn't done any meddling since that day on the nurse's office, and wouldn't have tried to insist on their relationship if they decided it was no good.

Lilly dropped her conceited look, and replaced it for a reassuring one.

"Now, seriously, Miles, you're only eighteen, you have lots of time to find your match. I know I found the right person for me much earlier, and that even Jackson found his 'one' before you did, but that's a matter of luck. You'll find the right boy for you, I promise. And just think about it – when you finally, do, it will be so wonderful!"

Each of Lilly's words was like a knife being driven into Miley's heart. If Lilly had any idea of what was Miley's real issue when it came to guys she would... well, Miley didn't even want to think about the possibilities.

Lilly gave her a hug, apparently having decided that her words weren't enough for comfort. Miley had to make a Herculean effort for not to break down in tears. If Lilly's words were like a knife into her heart, her hug was like a pitchfork.

"Thanks, Lilly," Miley managed to say. It came in a slightly croaked tone, but it looked like Lilly had decided to attribute it to the problem. However, if the hug carried on for much longer, Miley would burst in tears anyway.

By a stroke of luck, the sight of a swarm of people entering the airport caught her attention. Miley realized who they were: the passengers that had come on Oliver's airplane. Although Miley hadn't yet seen him, she knew Oliver was among them, and she knew that was the only thing that would get Lilly to go away now.

"Speaking of right boys, there's yours!" Miley shouted, pointing somewhere to the middle of the crowd that had just appeared. Fortunately, she managed to shout that in her normal tone.

The effect of her words was immediate.

"OLLIE-POP!" Lilly shouted, turning around and running in a beeline for the group Miley pointed to.

Louise and Simon tried to follow her, but Mr. and Mrs. Oken held them back and covered their eyes. Apparently, they thought it wasn't good for children to see the reunion of two lovebirds. Jackson, Siena, and Miley stayed back as well, for not to get in the way of Oliver's reunion with Lilly. But even from afar, Miley managed to see the crowd opening a path as the passengers tried to dodge Lilly charging at them. However, a boy with black hair, instead of dodging her, opened his arms to catch her, right as Lilly jumped at him. Although he stumbled a step backwards when he caught her, he didn't fall. Apparently, he'd found time to work out while on tour.

Although Miley wanted to give a closer look, she turned her eyes away. After all, what they were going to do next wasn't anything she hadn't seen before, or that she wanted to see.

After about a minute or waiting, Oliver's parents seemed to decide it was safe to go forward, and finally walked toward the place where Lilly and Oliver were still caught up in a huge kiss to make up for all the time they had spent apart. Jackson and Siena went after them, but Miley held herself back, walking as slowly as possible, trying to buy as much time to repress her emotional turmoil as she could. Hopefully, it would be repressed to a manageable level by the time she got to Oliver.

* * *

When Miley finally got to the spot where all the others had already greeted Oliver, he had already let go of his passionate kiss with Lilly, given hugs that lasted quite some time to his parents and his siblings, and shaken Jackson's hand while he had a quick chat with him. Now, he had just turned his focus to Siena, the only one out of the group that he had never met before.

"So, you're Siena, the famous b-b-b-bikini-model Jackson mentioned a few times, right?" Miley heard Oliver asking.

"Yes, that's me," Siena replied.

"It's nice to meet you," he said.

"Likewise."

There was a moment of silence, which Oliver took to give a longer look at Siena. Not as if he was checking her out, more like he was just trying to register her appearance in the same way people looked at paintings in museums.

"Well, I gotta give it to you: you're not all talk after all," Oliver said in a slightly provoking tone as he turned to Jackson.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Jackson asked, a mock-offended look on his face.

"It's supposed to mean that you getting a bikini-model for a girlfriend is one of those things that one has to see in order to believe," Oliver replied. "Your word only was never enough to back it up."

Jackson gave a short, dry laugh. "Very funny."

"But it's true," Oliver said. "In all honesty, I don't know how you did it."

Then, as if he feared someone had taken his comment wrongly, he quickly put an arm around Lilly's shoulders. "But I'm not interested in knowing anyway, because I have a girlfriend of my own – and a wonderful one at that."

"Oh, you're so sweet, Ollie-pop," Lilly cooed.

The two turned to each other, obviously to share a kiss. Miley turned her eyes away, although she knew it wouldn't decrease her turmoil the tiniest bit.

"Oliver..." Mrs. Oken said in a warning tone, gesturing to her other two children as she spoke.

Getting the hint, Oliver said, "Right."

Miley gave a sigh of relief, thanking Mrs. Oken in her mind for not having let Lilly and Oliver kiss – and cursing herself the following instant for her selfishness.

Miley was about to start a long torrent of silent self-scolding, but that was cut off, as the moment Miley had both been looking forward to and dreading came: Oliver caught sight of her.

"Hi, Miles," he said, giving her a friendly smile.

Miley did her best to smile back, all the while trying not to get her knees to quake. It seemed that each of Oliver's handsome traits had become a lot more intense during the tour. And, to her relief, it also seemed that neither he nor anyone else had realized how long she had taken to get there.

The smile still on his face, Oliver walked forward and hugged her.

"I missed you." he said.

"I missed you too." Miley said as she hugged him. Mentally, she couldn't help but to notice that, just like she had suspected, he'd gotten to do some working out while he was on tour, from what she could feel under her hands.

"How have you been?" he asked.

"Same old, same old..." Miley said, trying to speak as casually as possible. "Hannah does her appearances and concerts, then I go to school, then Hannah has more events..."

Oliver gave her a long look, before he spoke again.

"Are you sure you're alright, Miley?" he insisted.

Miley did her best to repress the alarm she felt from flashing across her face. Was Oliver reading anything he shouldn't be?

"Of course I am!" Miley said, trying her best to sound cheerful. "Why shouldn't I be?"

"Because from what Lilly told me, you've been pushing yourself to the point of collapse," Oliver said. "You have Hannah events almost twice as often as two years ago, and I know your father only lets you keep them as long as you keep your grades up. And from what I know, you have to study a lot in senior year. Do I really need to say anything else?"

Relief washed over Miley as she realized Oliver hadn't really noticed anything about her, but part of her was mad at Lilly for getting Oliver worried about her. Oliver already had more than enough on his mind without needing to be worried about her.

"Well, if I was pushing myself beyond my limits, my grades would have slipped already, and my father would have cut back on Hannah events," Miley said, trying her best to shun off the matter. "So, as far as that doesn't happen, you can just assume I'm not pushing myself too much."

Oliver didn't seem convinced. And what was worse, Lilly seemed to be ready to go back to the matter that was upsetting her. Miley cursed at herself for not having mentioned the grades-issue during the conversation she had with Lilly shortly before Oliver's arrival.

"But how long will you handle that?" Oliver insisted. "I know I wouldn't be able to keep studying and have my career at the same time, and Hannah's career is about ten times more successful than mine."

Mrs. Oken gave Oliver a hard look when he said that. Oliver winced, as though he'd felt his mother's gaze, and so did Miley, although the look wasn't directed at her. She remembered the day Oliver had told his parents about touring with the Tepid Funk. Oliver's father had been quite angry at the thought, but he'd accepted the idea relatively quickly, at least considering that he'd only stopped holding Oliver's hand in parking lots a few months before Oliver had entered _America's Top Talent_. Oliver's mother, however, had thrown such a tantrum that it had been a wonder the house hadn't fallen down halfway through it.

"I'll handle it," was the only thing she said, trying to sound sure of herself. "Don't worry."

"I'm your friend, Miley," he said. "Of course I worry."

"And I thank you for that, but you don't have to get all worried without a reason," Miley said, trying her best not to sound ungrateful, and to give a friendly smile at him. "Besides, you'd better stop giving me so much attention, or Lilly will get jealous."

An insulted look burst on Lilly's face at that comment.

"Of course not!" Lilly said, outraged. "Why would you think that?"

"No offense meant, Lilly, but you can be pretty jealous when Oliver gives more attention to a girl that isn't you," Miley pointed out. "You sounded really offended that time Oliver called me his 'best girl bud'. You can't blame me for thinking you'd be mad if Oliver gave me more attention than he gave you."

Lilly looked surprised at first, as though she didn't expect Miley to remember that. But she didn't make any comment on it. She just shook her head in hopelessness, after the surprised look was gone from her face.

"Miley, I would be mad if I saw Oliver checking out another woman, or if I saw some girl trying to flirt with him," she explained, sounding like she was explaining the most obvious thing in the world to the most ignorant person ever. "I wouldn't be mad at Oliver for being worried about you, 'his best girl bud', like you just said. What kind of best friend would I be myself if I didn't let him be worried about you?"

Miley wondered why Lilly had no problem proclaiming Miley as Oliver's best girl bud this time. Perhaps because she had managed to become much more than that since then.

"And besides, I'm also worried about you," Lilly said.

"And I thank you for that, but, like I told you a while ago, there's no reason for you to be," Miley again tried her best to speak in a reassuring tone.

"Yes there is," Lilly said, her tone fully displaying her stubborn nature. "Say everything you want, but I'm not an idiot. I've seen the signs. You've dropped everything else to juggle Hannah with studying, something that is not healthy by itself. And even if it was, you won't handle it much longer. Remember that time when you tried to help Oliver with his radio show? Well, as of late, you've been pushing yourself twice harder than on that time. I seriously don't know how your father lets you handle all of that."

Miley did. It was because she had spent three hours begging him to let her do it, and because she had managed to convince him that it was the lesser of the two evils. However, she wasn't sure of how long he would keep allowing her that.

"I'm eighteen now," Miley said in what she hoped to be a firm tone. "I have the right to decide what I can't handle and what I can't."

Miley wanted to put her hand in her mouth after saying that big fat verbal mistake. Lilly and Oliver were bound to take that last sentence as her snapping at them, and that would do nothing to get them more relaxed around her, nor would it get them to let go of the matter.

"Well, if I turn out to be wrong, and I can't handle all of this, I'll be the first to acknowledge your critics," Miley added as quickly as she could. "But so far, that hasn't happened. And besides, do you really think this is the best time to be talking about this?"

Both Lilly and Oliver got puzzled looks on their faces at her question. It was a good sign. If they got puzzled enough, they would stop thinking about that.

"Why would this be a bad time?" Oliver asked.

"Well, we still have to get your luggage, to begin with," Miley pointed out. "And then, we have a reservation at your favorite restaurant for dinner. And probably you want to get your luggage home before that. We can't really afford to waste time."

The two of them seemed like they were about to argue on that point, but, much to her relief, they only gave her a nod.

"Right, baggage claim," Oliver said. "Mom, Dad, could you please go ahead? We'll catch up with you soon."

"Of course, son," Mr. Oken said.

"But don't take too long," Mrs. Oken added, a heartbeat later. Her tone added the information that he could expect a harsh scolding if that happened.

Oliver nodded, as his parents and siblings started walking away to the baggage claim area. Jackson and Siena, however, stayed back with Miley, Lilly, and Oliver.

"Speaking of going, Siena and I are also going," Jackson said. "We have our own dinner to attend, and it's on one of those really smart places where you can't get in without a tux."

From her brother's sentence, Miley guessed that Siena would be the one paying for that dinner. And judging from her experience at those places, she would be paying quite a hefty bill. She wondered how his brother didn't get a guilty conscience at that. More, she wondered how Siena was fine with paying dinner. While she didn't know a lot of bikini-models, she doubted most would pay even one dinner for their boyfriends – and this was at least the third.

Then again, it was only their third dinner to a smart place. And recently, Jackson had gotten a part-time job, and had started paying for all the dates to non-smart places. All in all, Miley supposed it was fair and square.

Either way, she had bigger issues to worry about at the moment. She couldn't dwell on that now. But she also couldn't just let Jackson and Siena go away without throwing one last comment.

"Hearing you talking, it would sound as if you only came here to show Siena off to Oliver," Miley pointed out.

Jackson didn't say anything in regards to that comment, which Miley took as a confirmation of her guess. Strangely enough, Siena didn't seem upset at the idea. Perhaps it was because she had also showed Jackson off to a lot of her bikini-model friends, according to something he'd said a few weeks ago.

"What Siena and I came to do here is none of your business," Jackson said.

Miley sighed in relief. At least, he hadn't made any comment about Miley herself not having someone to show off. If he had, probably she would have gone wild.

Unfortunately, even without Jackson's comment, her inner turmoil kept building up. And if Miley didn't do something soon, it would burst, and lay a trail of emotional destruction in its path.

She had already handled it for so long... but it was still a mystery whether she would handle it long enough.

* * *

After saying their goodbyes to Miley, Lilly and Oliver, Jackson and Siena walked away, straight to where their car had been parked, so they could leave to get ready for their own dinner.

Meanwhile, Miley turned away, so she could follow Oliver's family to the baggage claim area. But before she even gave three steps, Lilly and Oliver held her back by her arms.

"What is it?" Miley asked.

Both Lilly and Oliver gave her pointed looks, vaguely reminiscing of the ones they had given her during her conversation about the Hannah issue. It was obvious they weren't ready to let go of the matter.

"Listen, we're going to drop the subject for now, but after that dinner finishes, please come with us on our walk," Lilly said. "We'll return to this matter then."

"Is that alright, Miles?" Oliver asked.

Miley hesitated for a moment before answering.

"Sure," she said.

Taking that as her word of honor, Lilly and Oliver let go of her, and walked to the baggage claim area as well. Miley went after them, grateful they had decided not to press the matter for now. If she knew them well, once the dinner ended and the three went on that walk, Lilly and Oliver would just forget about her and start thinking only about themselves, like they had done so many times before.

Not that they had ever purposefully ignored her – they just tended to get so caught up in each other that they barely paid attention to anything else. It was just another sign that they were in love. And in truth, Miley preferred it to be that way. Even if she didn't want to see Lilly and Oliver making out, at the pier, she could always tune them out by focusing on something else. And if they didn't keep pestering her, her emotional turmoil would be manageable.

Besides, she had something very important to tell them – and she had promised herself she'd do it on the day Oliver returned from his tour. The walk on the pier was the right time to do it.

She knew what she had to tell them could cost her losing her friendship with Lilly and Oliver, but she had already decided that she had to do it. She was reaching the limit of how much turmoil she could handle, and although there was nothing that could eliminate it at all, Miley hoped it would decrease considerably if she somehow got away from Lilly and Oliver. She had planned to do it after senior year ended for a long time now, and while she didn't want to rush the matter, she knew she would have to do it if they decided to end their friendship with her tonight.

Taking a deep breath, Miley sped up her step a little bit to catch up with Lilly and Oliver, trying to get her mind ready for the fact that tonight, the dice would be cast. That Lilly and Oliver would either get so mad at her that they wouldn't want to be her friends, or would accept her decision, and the three of them wouldn't have the same kind of friendship anyway.

Much to her own surprise, Miley wasn't sure about which of those two options she preferred.

* * *

**So, this was it. A new chapter for you. I'm sorry if it is sounding too repetitive, and if it seemed like I was just filling it up with Miley's thoughts... but well, to be sure, a considerable deal of the story will be about the turmoils Miley will go through. However, if that serves as any consolation to you, I will give you a sneak peek of the next chapter: Miley will tell Oliver and Lilly what she plans to do... and well... you'll just have to see how they are going to take it.**

**Thank you to all those who read this. I seriously hope you take the time to review, because I really favor your feedback. **

**Again, thank you for reading.**


	4. Chapter 3: One Secret Is Out

**Well, here it is. A new chapter. I'm sorry that it took so long to arrive, but unfortunately I have been busy with other things, and it was only recently that I managed to find the time to write and update this.**

**Also, this chapter is rather short, compared to others. But, hopefully, you will still enjoy it. **

* * *

**Chapter 3 – One Secret Is Out**

Two hours after they had picked Oliver up from the airport, Miley, Lilly, Oliver, and Oliver's parents and siblings were sitting at a table inside Oliver's favorite restaurant, after having gone to drop most of Oliver's luggage at home, except for one sports bag he had insisted on bringing.

For a brief moment, Miley had wondered why Oliver had insisted on bringing that bag with him. And instantly after, she had regretted doing so, as she had caught the exchange of looks between Oliver and Lilly, which had given her a bit of a clue as to what this bag could be related to. Unfortunately, she didn't have a lot to focus on in that restaurant, which was called _Slices & Chops_. Ever since Miley had known about the place, she had thought it had one of the weirdest names ever, but as this was where Oliver's favorite steaks were served, his parents had decided to come here to dinner to celebrate his return.

And the actual dinner wouldn't take long to come, as they had already ordered their food, and now were simply waiting for their meals to arrive. In the meantime, Oliver were talking about Oliver's tour. Simon and Louise listened eagerly, occasionally piping a question in.

Miley was the only one not taking part in the conversation all, as she simply wasn't listening. Instead, she was playing with the napkin folded by the plate's side as though she found it the most interesting thing in the world, not even thinking about the food, and not caring about assimilating any of the words spoken by Oliver or the others.

She knew it was rude of her to ignore them like that, but it didn't seem much of a problem to her, as it looked like they were all forgetting she as much as existed. Either way, in order to pay the proper amount of attention to the conversation, she would have to look at the group, which would mean to look at Oliver, as he was the one doing most of the talking. And it would be too hard to look at Oliver and keep her turmoil repressed at the same time, mainly considering that Lilly would be in Miley's vision field if she looked at Oliver. If Miley had to constantly see the loving gazes Lilly was constantly sending at Oliver, she wouldn't hold her turmoil back.

That was why she played with her napkin. It was the only thing she could do in order for not to think about Oliver and Lilly, sitting side by side, as though they were the happiest people in the world. She had thought about watching the restaurant's television, but it was currently set to a news channel, and Miley didn't want to watch the news right now, as she didn't want to think about the world's problems when she could barely handle her own. She wasn't selfish or self-centered to the point of thinking her problems were the most serious in the world, but the truth was that her problems were hers, and she had barely been capable of managing them recently. Knowing about other ones was bound to make her have a nervous breakdown, and so, she refused to watch the news channel, at least here and now. Without the television, everything she could use to keep herself busy with was on the table, and the napkin had been her first choice.

Miley knew that she looked like a fool to onlookers, sitting there playing with her napkin with such dedication, but she didn't mind. After all, she had already been a fool, not only by falling in love with Oliver, but by not making herself to fall out of love with him after he had fallen in love with Lilly. And her foolishness was costing her dear.

At least, things were working better than Miley had initially expected. Her inner turmoil was turning out to be manageable, albeit barely. As long as Miley had something unrelated to Oliver to focus on, she would be fine. For now, the napkin would play that role, and later on, it would be her food, which would have to last until the end of the dinner.

_A dinner that is only the calm before the storm. _Miley couldn't help but to think, as she could already see what would happen after the dinner was over.

Oliver's family would go away, and Lilly and Oliver would invite Miley to go on their walk through the pier. Miley thought about refusing, but she doubted she could do that without looking suspicious, which meant she would have to accept. And once she was at the pier with them, Oliver and Lilly were sure to hound her about 'why she had been so distressed lately', 'what was wrong with her', and other things that Miley didn't even want to think about. Once that happened, Miley's emotional turmoil was bound to go right through the roof, and she doubted any amount of effort on her part would be enough to hold it back. Once she let it all go, Oliver and Lilly would realize everything, and then, it would only take a few seconds before they decided to end any connection they could have with her, for the most varied reasons. She would lose her friendship with Lilly and Oliver and have her life thrown into even more of an emotional mess than it was.

And it was all because Lilly and Oliver wouldn't leave her alone, because they were so adamant in knowing what was wrong with her.

Miley wanted to be angry at them for not leaving her alone about the matter, but she couldn't bring herself to it. After all, by being worried about her, they were only being the good friends they had always been. Besides, like a lot of things about this situation, the fact they were hounding her so persistently was her fault. She should have been able to get her mind off her feelings for Oliver without resorting to an increase on Hannah's workload, or to spending less time with them in the hopes that the proverb 'out of sight, out of mind' would turn out to be true. She should have taken the time to do something that didn't involve Hannah-related stuff or studying, so that Lilly wouldn't get too suspicious.

But she hadn't done any of those things. And now, she would have to deal with the consequences.

"Don't you agree, Miley?"

Miley growled, inwardly coursing at the fact that she was so close to falling apart from her inner turmoil that she was starting to hear things as stupid as some inner voice of hers asking if she agreed with something Miley herself had just stated. But then, she realized that it hadn't been any inner voice of hers speaking, it had been Lilly.

Apparently, they had suddenly decided to include her on the conversation. And while normally Miley wouldn't have minded, right now she was a bit at a loss, as she hadn't been paying any attention. And now, not only would she have to follow the line of conversation, but she would have to keep herself collected. It was just like when Lilly had talked to her at the airport, only worse, as now, there were six people giving all their attention to her, instead of only three.

Making a Herculean effort for not to fall apart, Miley looked toward Lilly, Oliver, and the others, who were giving her looks with a mix of worry and concern.

"Yes," Miley said, trying to sound as normal as possible. "Yes, of course I agree."

Everyone just kept giving her weird looks. Clearly, her act hadn't managed to convince any of them this time. And there was nothing she could do now to try to convince them there was nothing wrong with her.

_This is it._ Miley couldn't help but to think, knowing that her inner hell was going to break loose and devastate her friendship with Lilly and Oliver down to the last bit.

But much to her surprise, Lilly simply smiled at her, and said, "Thanks for backing me up, Miles."

That statement caused Miley to stop being the center of everybody's attention, but still, Oliver's parents and siblings gave Lilly a brief look, clearly wondering what was going on with her.

Miley, however, knew what was going on, and she could see from Oliver's look that he also did. Lilly had said that to spare Miley the shame and embarrassing questions at the table. Again, Lilly was being the great friend she always was, the one who always cared about Miley. And again, Miley cursed herself for what she would have to do after this dinner.

Miley grimaced as soon as her mind wandered that way. Just thinking about that topic made her chest ache and her throat go tight.

Fortunately, right then, a waiter arrived, pushing a cart with their meals on it, and everyone's focus immediately turned to the dishes he put on the table.

Once she got her own dish laid in front of her, Miley started eating, but she did so in a very deliberate, focused manner, with an almost painful slowness, intending to make her meal last until everybody else was having their desserts. Eating like this was very unlike her, at least when she was Miley. It was a different story when she was Hannah, as, after all, Hannah Montana had to eat with a certain amount of decorum, if only for not to give the gossip columns and the paparazzi a field day by revealing to the whole planet the poor table manners of one of the world's most famous pop-stars.

As Miley, however, she had a tendency to pig out when eating at home with her family only. Even when she had guests, ate at school, or went out to eat, she didn't particularly care about proper table manners.

But right now, she was at a state where she took any distraction that came in order for not to think about Lilly and Oliver. And eating with proper manners demanded some focus. Hopefully, it would keep her mind busy enough for her not to pay attention to her inner turmoil, which in turn would keep it repressed for some longer.

Looking down at her steak, Miley raised her fork and her knife to cut a piece out, unable to repress the thought of how pathetic she had become, to the point of not being able to to do as much as eating normally without the risk of having a nervous breakdown.

But it would no longer be like that, as tonight things would take a turn. For better or for worse, everything would be different after this dinner.

* * *

The rest of the dinner went on rather uneventfully. Miley kept silent in her spot, eating the food at the slow place she forced herself to maintain, while the others carried on with whatever conversation they had been having before the food arrived. The most noticeable difference was that now their conversation went on more slowly, as they were trying not to talk with their mouths full.

To her relief, focusing on her food had appeased her turmoil somewhat, mostly because the steaks served at _Slices & Chops_ were nothing less than divine indeed. Which was a surprise, considering that the place wasn't even one of those were a single steak that could be eaten in one bite was as expensive as a cow back in Tennessee.

But eventually, came that dreadful moment when Mr. and Mrs. Oken finally paid the bill, and all seven of them got up from the table. Trying to remain as inconspicuous as she could, Miley followed Oliver, his girlfriend, his parents, and his siblings out of the restaurant, all the while trying to keep herself together.

Once they were outside the restaurant, Miley watched Oliver and Lilly exchanging good night wishes with Mr. and Mrs. Oken, as well as with Simon and Louise. A fact that caused the young children to make a lot of questions, as Miley noticed.

"But big brother, why are you wishing us goodnight now?" Louise asked. "We're not even home yet."

"Because I'm not going home now," Oliver said. "And you can't wait until I'm home, because it will be too late. You need your sleep."

"But tomorrow's Saturday!" Louise whined.

"That's right!" Simon added, being on his sister's side for once. "Why can't we wait for you to arrive?"

Miley could guess that Oliver was about to answer, but Mrs. Oken beat him to it.

"You need your sleep wherever it's Saturday tomorrow or not," she said.

From her tone, it seemed to Miley that Mrs. Oken would prefer it if Oliver just came home with them and ended the whole matter there. That suspicion was only strengthened when Miley saw the rather displeased look she gave at the sports bag Oliver currently held in his hand. However, she didn't make any further comments.

"Then why doesn't Oliver come home now?" Simon asked. "It's not fair that he needs less sleep than we do!"

"Your brother is older than you are," Mr. Oken said. "So he needs less sleep."

He didn't seem as displeased as his wife, but he clearly didn't like the thought of Oliver being out on the street at this hour.

"Now, no more arguing," Mrs. Oken said to Simon and Louise, who still had grumpy looks on their faces. "Hug your brother, and let's go home."

Louise and Simon still looked rather displeased, to say the least, but none of them argued with their mother. Miley wasn't surprised. After all, Mrs. Oken was known for being rather stern and intimidating, sometimes without even wanting to. Probably that was a result of her job in law enforcement.

After one last goodnight wish, Oliver hugged his parents and siblings again, and then Mr. and Mrs. Oken walked away, each taking one of their two youngest children by hand. Lilly and Oliver followed them with their eyes for a moment. Miley carefully measured the distance at which the retreating Okens were, and once they were out of earshot, she spoke.

"Well, I guess I'm hightailing it outta here as well," Miley said, trying to sound as cheerful as possible. "Wouldn't want you two lovebirds to be deprived of your first walk together in weeks!"

She said the last bit in a knowing tone, and then turned around, but before she even gave one step, she felt a hand grabbing her Looking at the place she felt being grasped, Miley saw that Lilly had been the one doing it.

"Aren't you forgetting anything, Miles?" Lilly asked, her tone gentle, but her look unusually serious.

Inwardly, Miley frowned. She had hoped that Lilly and Oliver would have forgotten about their plan to talk to her after dinner, or that they would end up deciding to just let go of the idea for now and instead enjoy their precious romantic time. They hadn't.

However, Miley didn't let them know what she had realized. Instead, she just gave the widest smile she could, and said, "You're right, I forgot to give you a goodbye hug as well. Silly me!"

Miley immediately made as though she was going to wrap her arms around Lilly, but even as she was halfway through the gesture, Lilly put her hand on Miley's shoulder and pushed away, firmly, but without excessive force.

"I asked you not to play games with me at the airport, Miley," Lilly said, her look unusually stern.

Miley bit back a curse at that. Lilly looked like she had gotten pretty offended by her attitude. The first thing she could come up with was, "Why would you think that I was playing any game?"

It wasn't her best excuse by far, but she didn't know what else to say. After keeping an act like that for so long, Miley was simply running out of steam. And unfortunately, that hadn't been enough to convince any of them.

Lilly gave her a frustrated look, obviously starting to get through with the matter. Oliver also looked like he couldn't just keep what he felt to himself any more.

"Come on, Miles, why can't you just tell us what's wrong?" Oliver asked in a strange, almost begging tone. "We're your friends."

Miley hid a wince. Having Lilly so upset with her was already excruciatingly painful. But hearing Oliver begging like that, and knowing that he was doing so because of something she had done to him, no matter how indirectly, was far worse.

For a moment, Miley remembered the time when she had forgotten the words to her songs just because Oliver was mad at her. That had been when she was young, and hadn't yet truly realized what she felt for Oliver. Now that she was older, was aware of what she felt, and had been bottling so much up for so long, she didn't even want to think of what could happen to her.

She had to end this now, not only for Lilly and Oliver, but for her. Otherwise, everything that would be left of them after tonight would be a big emotional wreck and two upset ex-friends.

"Very well, I'll tell you what's wrong," Miley managed to say, trying to force her hesitation down. "But first let's go to the pier as you said we would, OK? I think it will be easier to tell you there."

That was a lie, as that pier didn't have any special meaning to her. But while she walked there, she would hopefully be able to summon some more determination, and right now, she needed every shred of it she could.

Lilly and Oliver stared at her for a long moment, obviously trying to figure

"Alright, Miley. We'll go there. But once we're there, please tell us, alright?" Lilly said, now in the same begging tone Oliver had assumed before.

Because of the lump that had formed in her throat after Lilly had also begged, Miley could only nod.

* * *

Miley had tried not to walk too fast to the pier, in an attempt to buy enough time to gather enough determination. However, Lilly and Oliver were the ones setting the pace, and although they looked like they didn't want to force Miley into telling what was going on, they also didn't want her to drag this matter. So, they walked at a normal pace, and Miley, not wanting them to be even more upset or worried with her by this point, just followed their rhythm.

And now, less than twenty minutes after they had walked away from the restaurant, they were at the pier, leaning against the railing. Or, in Miley's case, leaning on it.

"We're here, Miley," Oliver said, shifting the sports bag, which he had slung over his shoulder while they came here.

"Are you going to tell us what's wrong now?" Lilly asked, without sounding impatient, demanding, or begging.

Instead of answering, Miley looked away toward the sea, taking in a deep breath of sea air, which usually worked to calm her down.

"Well… do you remember all of your plans for after this year?" Miley finally said. "How you…" she looked at Oliver. "…would go to Juilliard…" she switched her gaze to Lilly "…and you and me would go to CUNY?"

Oliver and Lilly nodded, confused looks on their faces, as they obviously didn't know where Miley was going with this.

Taking another deep breath, Miley added, "I know I haven't exactly told you so… but the truth is that I sort of have been having my own plans, and I would really like to stick to them."

Steeling herself as much as she could, Miley added the last part, doing her best to find the right words, "And unfortunately, you two aren't exactly a part of them."

That was it. The cat was out of the bag. Now, it was only a matter of waiting for it to start puffing and clawing around, like her father had said once.

Unable to repress herself from wincing, Miley tried with all her might not to close her eyes or turn away. She thought, a little bit too late, that perhaps she hadn't chosen the best words. Not for the first time, Miley wished that she had a knack for finding the right words to express herself without having to make them part of a song. While she usually didn't have problems saying what she meant, there were occasions when she did. Like this one.

"I'm sorry," Miley added in a whisper, silently begging for this apology to somehow appease them, if only a little bit.

As thought she had flipped a switch by saying that word, Lilly and Oliver finally showed some sort of reaction to her statement. In spite of her growing fear, Miley forced herself to keep her eyes on them. And she didn't like what she saw.

Lilly looked nothing short of shell-shocked, nor to mention divided between starting a disbelieving rant and lashing out at Miley for whatever reasons she had in mind. As for Oliver, he looked definitely confused, but not in the same way Miley had found adorable about him when he was younger. He looked honestly puzzled, not to mention rather hurt, which made Miley wince inwardly.

However, while Lilly seemed to be taking a long amount of time to assimilate the information she had just heard, Oliver soon regained an almost normal look, and was the first to speak.

"What sort of plans are those, Miles?" Oliver asked in a tone that he was trying to make somewhat even, although he couldn't hide the edge of hurt in his voice. It was obvious that he was doing his best to at least respect Miley's decision, even considering she had hurt him by saying that.

Unable to repress an overwhelming relief at the fact that Oliver was not freaking out because of what she had told him, Miley explained everything, making sure to speak in a low tone, so that no passerby would incidentally hear her secret.

"I want to be Hannah Montana on a full-time basis," she said. "Once I end my senior year, I want to focus solely on my career for a year or two, at the very least. I still intend to go to college someday, but unless you are willing to wait for me, it won't be with either of you."

Oliver nodded. He looked somewhat disappointed, and slightly hurt, which Miley had expected. After all he must have been looking forward to the three of them having a great time together in New York. But Miley would rather have him disappointed and slightly hurt with her now than having him really hurt and angry at her for eventually jeopardizing his relationship with Lilly once the three of them were in New York.

"And you say that's a final decision?" Oliver asked.

Miley nodded.

"And is there anything any of us can tell you to make you change your mind?" Oliver insisted.

Miley shook her head to the sides, closing her eyes as the hurt look on Oliver's face seemed to get slightly more intense for a moment.

When he recovered, he stood straight, and looked her in the eyes from where he was.

"I wish you the best of lucks in that, Miles," Oliver said, managing a half-smile. "And I'm sure your career will be even more successful with you dedicating all your time to it."

"Thanks, Oliver." Miley said, unable to repress herself from smiling at him. Even a half-hearted smile from Oliver seemed capable of making her heart melt.

However, her heart froze over an instantly after, as something seemed to motivate Lilly into speaking.

"How long has it been since you decided that?" she spoke, barely-contained anger evident in her voice.

It took all of Miley's will not to give a step back. For someone who looked so much like an angel, Lilly was certainly looking scary now. And that was more disturbing than anything else. Miley had seen Lilly upset many times before, but never had she seen Lilly truly angry.

"A while." Miley managed to say, her nervousness skyrocketing.

"How long exactly?" Lilly insisted, her eyes flashing dangerously.

"Easy, Lilly-pop, easy," Oliver said, wrapping his arms around Lilly's waist, as though he hoped that would restrain.

Lilly's sudden physical contact with her boyfriend appeared to calm her down a bit, but she still looked angry.

"How long has it been?" she insisted, looking like she was getting angry.

"I'm not sure exactly," Miley managed to say. "But when Jesse broke up with me I had already been thinking about it for about a month, maybe more."

That one was more than a bit of a lie, as Miley had been planning it ever since the beginning of her senior year. But if she said that, Lilly would be even more upset than she was.

Lilly looked like she was going to lash out at Miley at any moment, as she was quivering in barely suppressed rage. Although Oliver, now with his sports bag slung more precariously, hugged her and whispered what undoubtedly were soothing words in her ear, Lilly still looked like a puma ready to strike, even worse than Roxy, the scariest and fiercest bodyguard ever known to mankind, had ever managed to look.

In all honesty, Miley thought this was a bit of an exaggeration on Lilly's part. While Miley knew that hoping Lilly would be nothing but understanding could be too much, and that Lilly had all the right to be upset at the fact Miley had only now told her something so important, she didn't think there was a reason for Lilly to be beyond herself in fury.

Miley tried her best to look impassive, but she knew that at any sudden movement from Lilly, she was likely to just jump over the railing and into the sea.

Eventually, however, Oliver managed to calm her down, and Lilly's anger subsided, only to be replaced by a mix of incredulity and sadness.

"Why, Miley?" Lilly asked, sadness vibrating in her voice. "Why haven't you ever told me you wanted to do this? And why did you decide to do such a thing?"

Miley reached forward and laid a hand on Lilly's shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Lils," she said. "But I didn't want to tell you. I knew you would be upset."

Although Lilly had initially looked like she was calmer, Miley's comment.

"Of course I'm upset!" she lashed out. "I'm your best friend, you're not supposed to hide these things from me, mainly not for this long!"

This time, Miley couldn't help but to wince. Lilly had been right. And Miley cursed herself for not having told Lilly of her decision as soon as she made it. Both her father and Lori had advised her against keeping that secret from Lilly, but Miley had decided not to listen to them. And now, she was paying for that.

"Calm down, Lilly," Oliver said, wrapping his arms around her more tightly. "Calm down."

Lilly turned to him, looking him dead in the eyes with an intensity that Miley could feel in spite of not having visual contact with her.

"How can you ask me to calm down, Ollie-pop?" she asked. "How can you just accept this? She kept this secret from us for who knows how long, and you just sit there and take it?"

Moving his hands to Lilly's shoulders, Oliver said, "Lilly, I'm not just taking it. I'm also a bit hurt that Miley didn't tell us sooner. But she has the right to live her life, and we should respect her decision. Going to New York is my dream, and I'm very grateful you're so willing to go there with me, but she doesn't necessarily have to do the same thing."

Part of Miley couldn't help but to be upset that they were talking about her as though she wasn't around, but she forced that down. At least, Oliver was trying to see her side and to calm Lilly down, which was already something positive, although he still sounded slightly hurt. Hopefully, his efforts would not be in vain.

For a moment, Lilly just quivered, still staring intensely at Oliver as though that would calm her down. Finally, looking like her anger had been somewhat appeased, Lilly again turned to Miley, and repeated the other question she'd made, "Why are you doing such a thing, anyway?"

This time, Miley turned her head down, focusing on a rusty spot on the railing that had suddenly become fascinating to her eyes.

"Miley…" Lilly insisted, in a tone that stated very clearly that if Miley didn't speak soon, Lilly would beat the information out of her.

Ever so slowly, Miley raised her eyes again.

"I can't handle it anymore," Miley said.

That statement only served to confuse them even further. Miley couldn't help but to silently give thanks for that fact, as hopefully their seconds of confusion would help her to gather enough courage for what she was about to tell.

"What is it you can't handle?" Oliver finally asked in a careful tone, one that either meant he thought the subject was sensitive for her or that he was afraid of knowing the answer.

Miley gave another deep sigh, feeling as if her heart was splitting in two. It was time to tell the full truth. If before she had thought the cat was out of the bag and scratching around, she now thought that the cat would grow to the size of a tiger, and just one of its swipes would bring her down.

"You two," Miley said. "Your relationship. The way how you are so happy… so in love. And not only you, but everyone else around me wherever I seem to look. Dad and Lori, Jackson and Siena… and the list could go on. I don't think I can keep handling the fact I'm the only one who can't get a happy relationship no matter how hard I try. And if I went to New York… I don't think I would stand being so close to you in such a constant basis."

Oliver again nodded, the disappointment and slight pain evident on his face. But he still looked understanding and at least willing to try to respect Miley's wishes. Lilly, however, looked even more shocked.

"So that's it?" Lilly said. "You're going to focus on her career instead of going to college with us only because you're too bitter for not to accept the fact that the two of us are in love and you are without a boyfriend?"

At first, Lilly had been speaking in a rather low voice, but her voice had gradually increased as she spoke, and after the 'only', she was already past screaming, something that was attracting the attention of several other people in the pier. Miley couldn't help but to notice that most of their recently-acquired spectators seemed to be dating couples in their late teens, and most of those left were couples not in their teens.

"Please keep your voice down," Miley whispered, making a hand gesture as though she was pushing something down.

Lilly's eyes flashed again.

"You don't have the right to tell me what to do, Miley Ray Stewart. Not after you decide to give up our friendship like that."

Miley gulped. Lilly was taking this exactly in the way Miley had hoped she wouldn't.

"I'm not giving up on our friendship," she said, trying not to let her voice break. "I'm just not going to be around you two on a 24/7 basis. Friendships aren't meant to grow weaker with distance, are they? And besides, why are you so upset? Oliver is also my friend, and at least he's trying to respect my decision! Why aren't you doing the same?"

Miley wasn't sure of whether those logical arguments would be effective in calming Lilly down, but she had to try. Unfortunately, it was a failed attempt, because Lilly didn't look remotely calmer.

"You don't have the right to ask me to respect your decisions when you just drop a bomb on me like that," Lilly said. "I had been counting on the three of us to have the best college time in existence together, and you suddenly say you decided to give it up because you want to focus on your stupid career just to drown your bitterness? I can't believe it!"

Although she could see where Lilly's words came from, and that all of this was her own fault, Miley just couldn't help but to get somewhat upset at Lilly for speaking like that.

"Whoever hears you talking is going to think that I'm a drug addict, or an alcoholic, or that I resort to self-harm, or that I do any other thing in that vein," Miley said, unable to repress the slight anger on her voice. "I'm not addicted to anything, and although I know I shouldn't be bitter to the point of being unable to accept the fact that everyone but me is happy with the one they love, at least I'm using something rather healthy to keep my mind off of that!"

Again, Miley hadn't said the whole truth, but she knew that, as incorrect as lying was, telling the truth was not an option right now. Things would get a thousand times worse if she told Lilly something like "_I know I shouldn't be bitter to the point of not accepting that Oliver, the one I truly love, is in love with my best friend, who, in turn, loves him back_" it would be far worse.

And it was bad enough already. Not only because Lilly was angry, but because Miley could feel that she was starting to get angry as well. Miley knew she had more than a bit of a temper, and although she usually managed to keep it under control, it suddenly seemed to have become unstable, thanks to her inner turmoil. And what was worse, Lilly looked like she was going to stir it up even more.

"You're just being a selfish bitch who can't accept that she has some problem that scares her boyfriends away!" Lilly shouted. "Because that must be it! You've had more boyfriends than any girl I had ever known, and yet every other girl I have ever known managed to keep at least one relationship longer than most of the relationships you had!"

Miley repressed the comeback that was about to come out of her mouth.

_I was only doing that because I wanted to keep my mind off of my feelings for Oliver!_ she thought. Fortunately, she hadn't shouted that.

"Lilly!" Oliver suddenly shouted, grabbing Lilly's upper arms, and turning her around to face him. "Calm down! Don't be like that! Miley already explained us what's going on with her, we already listened, let her go home before you manage to destroy whatever was left of your friendship with her."

Again, Miley silently thanked the fact that Oliver was at least trying to be understanding and respectful. And a moment afterwards, she silently let out a curse. But it wasn't because of Oliver. Instead, her curse was due to the ever bigger amount of people that were looking at them as though they were their night entertainment.

"I don't have anything of our friendship left to destroy, Oliver!" Lilly shouted, looking up at him. "She already destroyed everything when she said she planned to do it after our senior ended anyway, all because she can't handle seeing happy couples around her!"

Turning back to Miley fiercely, Lilly spat, "And you know what? I think you fully deserve that loneliness of yours! You deserve all the loneliness you can get in your life, because you're just some stuck-up whore who doesn't give any value to her friends or to anyone else who cares about her!"

That was it. More than a year of spending every waking moment holding back her feelings for Oliver combined with Lilly's angry shouts shattered whatever control Miley had left. As a sudden need of unloading everything she had bottled up took over every fiber of her being, Miley pulled her arm back, and swung a slap at Lilly, hitting her squarely on her cheek. The sound echoed all over the pier.

It was as if time had stopped. A gasp was heard through the whole pier, as their already big audience reacted to the hit Miley had just delivered. Oliver let go of Lilly, his arms falling to his sides, as he stared at Miley in shock, his mouth agape. Lilly simply stared at Miley, shellshocked at such an attitude, as Miley stared at her, her fists clenched at her sides, and a fierce snarl on her face, making every onlooker feel as though she was emanating rays of fire.

"Don't you address me ever again as long as you are live," Miley managed to get out, each of her words slow, deliberate, and boiling with anger. "From now on, you can just pretend that I died."

Then, as the full awareness of what she had done and said crashed down onto her, Miley turned around and ran away as quickly as her legs could carry her. In front of her, the crowd parted to make way. And behind her, drops of tears that had squirted out of her eyes splashed down on the pier, glistening under the artificial lights on the place.

* * *

**Well... this was it. Yet more drama to add onto the story. If fanfics here could be classified under three categories rather than two, "Drama" would definitely be the third.**

**So, Miley finally told Lilly one of her secrets, and she didn't take it well. Fortunately, it wasn't the big secret, otherwise, things would have been even worse.**

**I'm sorry if it looked like Lilly and Miley were out of character, but the truth is that Lilly had been looking forward to going to college with both Miley and Oliver for a rather long time, and having something she had been looking forward to for so long suddenly ruined just made her upset. And Miley... well, with her inner turmoil, she really didn't choose her words, and Lilly didn't really make an effort to calm down... and so, things ended as they did. **

**I hope I'm not establishing a too fast pace with this story. **

**Even though the chapter was short, I hope you all enjoyed it. Best regards, and until the next update (which hopefully won't take this long to arrive).**


	5. Chapter 4: Talking About Tomorrow

**Well, it seems that fast updates are not exactly my strong point. I'm sorry about that, but I've been sidetracked with other things lately. My most sincere apologies for having kept you all hanging at such a critical point. Even if I've been busy, it's not exactly an excuse. Also, I know the plot is just kind of being dragged, but I like to take my time with these things, so that I can get as deeply inside the main characters' heads as I can. **

**To be honest, I'm not sure I'm even taking all the time I should with unveiling the plot. But I think this is acceptable enough.**

**I hope that you all enjoy this chapter. It's slightly longer than the last one, in an attempt to make up for the extreme delay.**

* * *

**Chapter 4 – Talking About Tomorrow**

Miley did not know for how long she ran, nor where she was going, but she didn't care about any of those things, just like she didn't she care about how she had bowled over several people in the middle of her frenzied run, or about how she had almost been ran over three times by running across streets with red crossing lights. She just wanted to get as far away from Lilly as possible and to get the turmoil that now raged inside her under control. It was doing no good. She could still feel Lilly's shocked and hurt look locked on her as she ran, the overwhelming shame at having done such a thing to the one that was like her sister pressing down on her heart, and a trail of tear drops on the ground behind her.

Never in all the years in which Miley and Lilly had been friends had either of them slapped the other. No matter how angry they were, no matter how much they wanted to go at each other's throats, never once had any of them actually struck the other physically. There had always been an unspoken rule between the two of them that should such a thing ever happen their friendship would be instantly shattered with no hope of getting it back together.

But now, Miley had crossed that line, and delivered Lilly the first slap she had ever delivered to anyone. By now, any remote possibility at keeping some of her friendship with Lilly was gone.

_You know that such a possibility would never really exist, don't you?_ The annoying voice on the back of her head mocked. _Even if Lilly forgave you for keeping such a secret from her, she wouldn't keep her friendship with you. As soon as she and Oliver went to New York, both of them would forget that you exist._

Not having the energy to shut that thought down, Miley ran even faster in an attempt to counter the pang of pain that it brought to her heart. But soon, as her whole body started to scream in protest, Miley slowed down, before falling to her knees against a street light, putting her arms between her eyes and the metallic pole. As she did, more tears spilled out of her eyes, soaking through the thin sleeve of the pink jacket she wore, as a wave of sobs started to force its way from the very depths of her soul.

Not caring about anything that could be going on around her, Miley shook convulsively, as unrestrained sobs left her mouth, fueled by everything she had been keeping to herself for so long now. Her feelings for Oliver, the boy she knew she loved from the bottom of her heart. Her jealousy for Lilly, the girl who had captured Oliver's heart and given her own back to him in return. The hatred she felt toward herself, for feeling jealous of her best friend, instead of being happy from the bottom of her heart for the fact Lilly had found her soul mate. The fear she had developed about ending up alone and abandoned while everyone else around her found someone to spend his or her life with. The shame she felt about not having the bravery to tell Lilly about her intentions to be Hannah Montana on a full-time basis since she had first thought about it. And, most of all, the disgust she felt toward herself for slapping Lilly.

To do that was as bad as any religious sin registered in mankind's history. Lilly was her best friend, her sister, someone who had always been there for her when she needed her. To slap her, to cause her physical pain in any manner, not to mention the emotional one that would automatically come from doing it, was something Miley could not forgive herself for doing.

But she simply hadn't been capable of holding her emotions in any longer, and Lilly shouting at her in such a manner had simply been the final straw. As much as Miley could understand Lilly's anger and believed she had a reason to be angry, she hadn't been able to repress her own anger at the fact that Lilly simply hadn't made any effort to understand her point of view, no matter how vain such an attempt was. As Lilly's words kept piling up on everything she had been holding for so long, Miley had simply lost it.

Her father had always warned her that something like this was bound to happen someday, and later on, Lori had told her the same thing. Miley had agreed with them, but deep down, she had expected it wouldn't have to be that way, that instead she would have been able to keep herself together right until the last moment, and Lilly would simply be nothing but understanding of her.

Slowly, her shaking began to subside, as Miley neither had more tears to shed nor the strength to let out more sobs. Strangely, she now felt more relieved than she had ever been since that night when she had told her father about her feelings for Oliver and had ended up crying in his arms, a matter of hours after she had done everything she could to get Lilly and Oliver back together. It was the first time since that day that she had let her feelings out. No matter how disgusted she felt at herself for slapping Lilly, Miley felt her heart considerably lighter after having shed all the tears that had welled up for so long inside her.

Unfortunately, this wasn't the end of it. By now, Lilly and Oliver were bound to be furious at her. And while that wouldn't be much of an issue if they never saw each other again, Miley knew that things were far from over. After all, Lilly's belongings were back at her house, and sooner or later she would have to go back there to pick them up. Also, Miley and Lilly went to the same school, and would inevitably spend some more months together. It would only be after graduation that they would finally be able to part their ways for good.

But somehow, Miley had the feeling things would be easier from then on. In spite of her guilt for having slapped Lilly and for having delivered such news to her, at least she would no longer have to constantly fake smiles, or to permanently look at Oliver and Lilly being so in love with each other. It would still be bad, but Miley believed she would be able to handle it, after everything she had done during that year when she had kept on that mask for herself. Also, she no longer had to worry about Lilly finding out of how she loved Oliver, as the only people besides herself who knew about that were her father and Lori, and Miley was sure neither of them would tell her such a thing.

Either way, how the rest of the school year with Lilly would be was not a concern for this specific moment. By now, what she truly needed to do was to get out of here, and get to the safe haven of her home. Hopefully, a good night's sleep would help to mend her now even more broken heart in some manner.

With extreme effort, Miley pulled herself to her feet, and started looking around for a taxi, the streetlight shining down on her tear-stained face.

* * *

Miley could not tell how long it took for the taxi to arrive, as she hadn't been looking at her watch, but she hadn't felt like she had been waiting for long by the time she managed to hail one. She also hadn't felt it as if it taken the taxi driver long to drive her home, as after telling him her destination, she had been both lost in her thoughts about the day's events and too drained to be very aware about was going on around her. She had only snapped out of her near-trance by the time the taxi pulled up by the destination she had pointed to the driver.

After paying the run and telling the driver to keep the change, Miley slowly walked to her front door, feeling as drained as she had felt when she had stopped sobbing against that streetlight. She moved with slow steps, as if her legs had suddenly become three times heavier, but she did not have enough emotional energy to be capable of moving any faster, although she desperately wanted to put her pajamas on and flop down on her bed. It was a good thing that she would have most of tomorrow to rest. If she hadn't, the concert in Los Angeles would most certainly be a huge letdown for the fans, who had been eagerly waiting for it for some time now.

As she thought about the concert, Miley remembered that certainly neither Lola nor Mike would ever be at a Hannah Montana concert again. While that thought was not as upsetting as the other things related to the fact her friendship with Lilly and Oliver was finished, it was also disturbing, to say the least. Although she had honest friendships with some celebrities, none of them could compare to Lilly's and Oliver's alter egos by far. Granted, back when she hadn't had Lilly's and Oliver's alter egos there with her, her father had tried his best to entertain her, mainly with his jokes, but the truth was that, while she was grateful for his effort, she couldn't help but honestly feel his attempts were in vain. And while now she would have Lori there with her, it also wasn't the same thing as having Lilly or Oliver there with her, acting as themselves in spite of looking so different when disguised.

Miley stopped those thoughts when she realized that there were lights on at the house, which could only mean that her father and Lori were still up. If Miley was any less emotionally drained, she would probably have groaned – at least inwardly – at the prospect of having to face them so suddenly after the new turmoil her life had entered, but right now she was too emotionally drained to even feel any will to complain about having to tell her father and stepmother everything. Besides, the truth was that she would have to tell them what happened, and unlike it had been the case with Lilly and the feelings Miley had for Oliver, she wouldn't be able to hide her conflict with Lilly for long, if at all.

Stopping by the door, Miley stuck her key in the lock and turned it, before walking in. After giving only three steps, she halted, one of her eyebrows rising in puzzlement as she took in the scene in front of her.

Her father and Lori were sitting together on the couch placed perpendicularly to the television, her father's left arm draped over Lori's shoulders as she rested her head on his shoulder, clearly indicating they were having a small moment, as the television wasn't on and they didn't have their cross-words books with them or any other thing they could be doing together. The fact they were cuddling wouldn't be too weird by itself, but Miley could see that her father was bare-chested, and she had a feeling that Lori's upper body was covered only by her bra, at the most. And that fact was, at the very least, somewhat puzzling.

Even though Miley was mostly used to Lori by now, the thought of her father and a woman having sex somehow seemed weird to her. Also, she, for yet another time, couldn't help but to find it somewhat weird that they were moving so fast in their relationship when they were that age, as she assumed that most couples their age moved far more slowly in their relationships.

But in the end, her father and Lori had the right to have their relationship in the way they wanted to, and as Miley had been the one bringing them together, it would be extremely hypocritical of her to complain about the relationship they were having. So, she would just try to sneak away to her bedroom, seeing as they had even been too absorbed in their cuddling to notice her coming in.

However, just as she made that decision in her mind, both Lori and her father turned in her direction, as if they had sensed her presence. At first, Miley tensed up, readying herself to watch them scrambling around looking for something to cover their upper halves with, like children who had been caught doing something naughty, but neither of them did such a thing, although they looked somewhat startled by her arrival.

"I'm sorry for interrupting you," Miley said in an honestly apologetic tone, the surprise she felt at what she had seen giving her some emotional energy. "Don't hold yourselves up because of me."

Miley started walking to the back door, through which she had to go in order to get to her room, but she stopped as she heard her father calling out to her.

"Wait a moment, bud," he told her in the gentle and concerned tone he always used whenever he wanted to talk to her about something that troubled her. "We need to talk."

With extreme reluctance, Miley turned back around. She now saw that, just like she had known, her father was indeed shirtless, and Lori's upper body was covered only by her bra. However, she also noticed that Lori was covering her midriff with her forearms, as if there was something she wanted to hide.

Trying to ignore that particular point, Miley instead said, in response to her father's words, "You don't have to justify yourself to me, Daddy. I know what sex is, I know you two are still young enough for that, and you're free to have it if you want to."

Her father flinched noticeably, as if hearing her speaking a sentence that included the term 'sex' was a shock to him. Lori, however, said in a gentle, patient tone, "We weren't having sex, Miley. We were just cuddling."

A small part of Miley couldn't help but to be relieved at knowing that, even considering that she believed her father and Lori had the right to have sex if they so wished. For a brief moment, Miley considered asking why they were cuddling shirtless, but she stopped herself from making that question. After all, whatever was their reason to do so, it was not her business.

"Like I said, even if you were having sex, you're free to do it," she said. "And even if you were only cuddling, I'll leave you alone to do it in peace."

As if that sentence had been enough to bring her father out of his shock, he said, "That's not what I wanted to talk to you about, bud."

A surprised look made its way onto Miley's face at that statement. "What is it then?"

After looking over her face, as if he was making sure he hadn't imagined things, he asked in a gentle tone, "Have you been crying, bud?"

Miley nodded wordlessly in response, unsurprised at the fact he had noticed such a thing. After all, she could still feel the remnants of her tears sticking to her face, and her eyes were red and puffy. And she had already learned that even if her father seemed oblivious at times, he was actually quite perceptive.

She only hoped he would be perceptive enough to also realize that she wasn't exactly up to talking about what was troubling her.

"Sit here with us, bud," her father requested, gently patting the seat of the couch by his side.

Not feeling up to refusing, Miley nodded, and sat down by her father's side, while Lori got up, walked behind the couch her father was sitting down on, and sat down by the other side of Miley. For a moment, Miley was reminded of when she was a young child and her father and mother would both try to talk to her about something that was troubling her. There was always one of them on each side of her, as if they wanted to surround her with their warmth and give her the feeling everything was alright, just like her father was doing to her now, only this time the other person wasn't her mother, but Lori.

"Do you want to talk to me about what's troubling you, bud?" her father asked, also in exactly the same gentle tone he had used to tell her that he was open to listening to anything she had to tell. For a moment, Miley could not help but to think that, no matter how old she became, she would always be daddy's little girl in some aspects.

Unable to answer, Miley turned her gaze away from her father's eyes. That moment when Lilly had shouted such words in her face had been too heartwrenching for her to want to think about it. Each and every of Lilly's words had struck her core like a bullet, and in the end, she had just felt like she had fallen apart. She did not want to relive it so soon.

But at the same time, she didn't feel she had the emotional energy to hold it in.

Slowly looking up to meet her father's gaze, Miley said, "I talked to Lilly and Oliver. I told them I want to be Hannah Montana on a full-time basis, instead of going with them to New York."

Her father nodded, signaling his understanding.

"Did anything else happen?" he asked in the same gentle tone.

Yet again, Miley did not reply. Now that she had gotten to really talking about what was upsetting her, she didn't feel like she could get it out. However, under her father's gentle, but probing gaze, and with Lori's hand rubbing her back comfortingly, Miley again could not hold everything in, and felt the words coming up her. At first, Miley wanted to fall into her father's arms, but a small part of her mind told her that she would be childish if she did such a thing, so she instead clasped her hands at her lap and turned away, staring at the round table in front of the couch as though it was the most interesting thing in the world.

Slowly, Miley started sobbing again, as some of her tears returned, and she got pieces of sentences out bit by bit, "Lilly kept on trying to get it out of me… I said I was focusing on my career because I couldn't take that I was the only one alone anymore… she said I was giving up on my friendship… she called me…"

Miley stopped there, her sobs intensifying, as she hunched over and sank her face into her hands. She could not repeat the words Lilly had said to her. Even thinking about them was enough to feel her broken heart screaming in pain as though a battering ram was being slammed against it time and time again.

"There, there, bud…" her father whispered, rubbing his back with one hand, as Lori did the same, while tucking strands of Miley's hair behind her ears. "Everything's going to be alright."

"It's not, Daddy," Miley whispered, her face still buried in her hands. "I told Lilly I didn't want her to ever address me again. I told her to just pretend that I had died. And now, besides having lost Oliver to Lilly, I lost whatever chances I could have at keeping her friendship! How can everything be alright?"

Her father opened his mouth to answer, but before he spoke, Lori raised a hand as though asking for permission to try to talk herself. After receiving a nod, Lori said in a tender tone, "Miley, look at me."

With painful slowness, Miley raised her head and turned her bloodshot, puffy eyes to Lori. With Miley looking at her, the nurse of her school and her soon to be stepmother started to speak.

"I know I'm not your mother, nor a family member, but I have watched your friendship with Lilly for some time," Lori said in a soothing tone. "And I can tell you this: as long as both of you want it, you will be able to get your friendship back together. That doesn't mean it will happen overnight, or that it will be easy, but you can do it."

Miley nodded, not feeling up to voicing her thoughts on the matter. On one hand, she believed Lori's words. She and Lilly had been mad at each other many times before, and had always managed to reconcile in the end, their friendship becoming even stronger than it had been before. But at the same time, they had never exchanged such harsh words, nor had they ever hit each other. That could mean their friendship had already reached its end.

"Lori's right," her father added. "You and Lilly have always reconciled after being mad at each other. You'll do it again."

While some people could be upset at listening to the same thing being told more than once, Miley didn't mind. Somehow, at least in this case, listening to the same thing being said by two people made her believe it more.

"But for now, just go to bed and rest up," her father added. "You'll need to be as fresh as possible for tomorrow's concert in Los Angeles."

For a moment, Miley wondered why her father had not asked her if she wanted him to cancel tomorrow's concert, but she was glad he hadn't. And even if he had, the answer would be no, as Miley didn't want her concert cancelled. Her concerts had always been like a therapy for her. When she put on her blonde wig, got on stage, and sang her heart out to legions of fans, she forgot about whatever was upsetting her, and focused on the utter joy given to her by knowing she was, somehow, helping people with her songs, by letting them know they were not alone in the hardships they were facing, or giving them strength to carry on, or getting them to let go of their bottled-up feelings so that they would feel better.

"I'll do just that, Daddy," Miley said, as she got up from her place between her father and Lori and walked to the back door.

"Wait a second, bud," her father said. "Do you want some Loco Hot Cocoa to help you fall asleep?"

At that question, Lori glared at him sternly.

"Robbie Ray, you know far too well what that drink of yours does to Miley," she scolded. "And she just had a weird dream last night without any help like that. Considering what happened today, she's bound to have the weirdest nightmares in the world if she takes that weird drink of yours."

Miley watched her father raise his arms in an appeasing gesture, and was unable to repress a small amused smile.

"I know about that, Lori," he said. "But the Loco Hot Cocoa always helps her to fall asleep when she has insomnia… even if it gives her nightmares afterwards."

Not wanting Lori to argue with him, Miley said, the small smile at his wary look still on her face, "Don't worry, Daddy. I'm so tired today that I think I'll fall asleep the moment I flop down on the bed."

Miley couldn't help but to notice that, as she spoke and drew their attention to her, both Lori and her father immediately forgot about the argument that they had just been having, and instead looked at her, neither of them looking very convinced by her words, but both deciding not to insist on the topic. Again, Miley could not help but to recall how much her father's relationship with Lori seemed similar to the relationship he'd had with Miley's mother.

After another brief smile, this one of fondness at the memory that had briefly com to her mind, Miley resumed her walk to the back door. When she got there, she stopped, and turned around one last time.

"Thank you for listening to me," she said. "And goodnight."

"Sleep tight, bud," her father said.

"Sweet dreams, Miley." Lori added in a motherly tone.

Giving them one last grateful look, Miley turned around, and walked out through the back door, catching a glimpse of her father draping an arm over Lori's shoulders while the nurse snuggled up against him.

* * *

After brushing her teeth and changing into her pajamas, Miley at last allowed herself to fall down onto her bed, pulling the blankets and sheets up to her neck. She felt better after talking to her father and Lori, but the heartache caused by Lilly's comments was still there. She still couldn't believe that Lilly would ever speak that harshly to her, no matter how upset she was at the fact Miley had withheld such a secret from her. Granted, this time her anger had been intensified by the fact she had been dreaming about the three of them going to college together in New York for a good amount of time, and Miley had said in very clear terms that she simply wasn't going to follow that plan, but their previous years of friendship should have counted for something. And after all, Lilly had forgiven her for keeping the secret that she was Hannah Montana. So why couldn't she just have understood now?

Maybe it was because she thought that what Miley had done had no excuses. And Miley could understand why she would think that. In fact, she even agreed with it. After all, she and Lilly had always shared everything like the almost-sisters they were meant to be. Neither of them had kept any secret from the other since the day Miley had told her she was Hannah Montana, the only exceptions being, of course, Miley's feelings for Oliver, and more recently, the decision Miley had made to pursue her career instead of going to college. In the end, the truth of the matter was that Miley wasn't trying to excuse herself. She was just sad that Lilly had gotten so mad at her, and wanted to make up with her.

The only thing that cheered her up was the fact that there was still a possibility of that happening. After all, Miley hadn't told Lilly about how she was in love with Oliver. Should she have done that, the chances at them rekindling at least some of their friendship would be completely destroyed. At least, while this particular secret was kept, she would still have a chance at rebuilding some of her friendship with Lilly. For a moment, Miley couldn't help but to wonder whether she should be honest and tell both Lilly and Oliver about her feelings for the latter. But the answer she gave herself was the same as she always did. Should she do such a thing, there were only two options. One was that Lilly and Oliver wouldn't continue their relationship out of feeling guilty for the fact Miley was in love with him as well, and Miley wouldn't be able to forgive herself for that. The second was that they would end up disregarding Miley's feelings and choosing their relationship with each other over their mutual friendship with her, which would make Miley end up alone anyway.

In the end, keeping that particular secret was still the best option, as it was the one that would allow her friendship with Lilly and Oliver to stay the most intact, if she ever managed to get it back. And even if she didn't manage to do so, at least keeping that information to herself would enable them to keep having their relationship in peace.

With that slightly comforting thought settling into her mind, Miley's brain finally calmed down, and she nestled into her mattress, as she slowly fell asleep.

* * *

On a bed as spacious as Miley's, located at one of the rooms of one of Malibu's finest hotels, Lilly Truscott nestled her head into her boyfriend's chest, listening to his heartbeat and feeling him gently running the tips fingertips of his left hand up her back, which was covered only by the blankets and sheets of the bed after the two of them had made love. Even before coming back, Oliver had booked this hotel room so they would be able to share this intimate moment. It had not been their first time together, but it had been the first time they had done it since before he had left for his tour. And it had felt as special for her as each and every of all the other times they had done so.

But this time's aftermath was different than that of the others in another manner. While Lilly usually simply relaxed after the two of them made love while she snuggled against Oliver, this time she couldn't help but to feel slightly upset. However, it was about nothing related to their recent lovemaking. Instead, it was about something that had been upsetting her before they had even entered the hotel room, and while she had gotten it off her mind while she and Oliver made love, it slowly started to come back now.

It was Miley. Miley and the harsh words they had exchanged a matter of hours, culminating with Miley slapping her. No matter how much Lilly wanted to be mad at Miley for keeping such a secret from her and for slapping her like that, Lilly felt guilt gnawing at her insides. She knew she shouldn't have said what she did. But she had felt betrayed! Miley was her best friend. Best friends weren't supposed to keep secrets! And Lilly had already proved she could forgive Miley anything that time the Hannah secret was told to her! If their friendship had held up even after that, why would Miley want to keep the secret that she didn't want to go to New York with them and to CUNY with her? Granted, Lilly hadn't exactly asked Miley what she wanted to do, but that had only been because she had assumed Miley wanted to do the same. If Miley had wanted to follow a different path, she could have told it to Lilly anytime.

But maybe Lilly hadn't made her feel that in the proper manner. Not to mention that Miley had probably kept that from her because she didn't want to hurt her. And in the end, she had told Lilly what she intended to do some time before she actually did it. It would have been far worse if she had told that to Lilly and Oliver only when senior ended and the two of them sent out their applications to CUNY. Either way, it had been wrong of Lilly to just act as if she expected her friend to follow her along like a lapdog without even asking if that was what she wanted to do.

As if he was sensing her thoughts, Oliver tucked a strand of golden hair behind her ear, caressing her cheek with his fingertips as he did so, and asked, "What's wrong, Lilly-pop?"

Lilly turned her blue eyes toward him. "It's Miley," she whispered.

"What about her?" Oliver asked, sounding slightly confused in that manner she could only find adorable. "Did her slap hurt you that much?" he added, gently stroking her cheek with the palm of his hand.

At that question, Lilly couldn't help but to think again how her Ollie-pop was so sweet. Most men would be shocked at the fact their girlfriend was thinking about a woman after they had just had sex with her. But Oliver simply understood, didn't make weird questions, and took the time to listen to her. It was one of the many things she loved about him.

"Don't worry, Ollie-pop, it's alright," Lilly said, closing her eyes in delight at his touch. "I took worse blows than that. What I meant is that I really need to talk to her."

Oliver nodded in understanding at those words.

"Are you still angry at how she kept her decision to be Hannah Montana on a full-time basis in secret for so long?" he asked.

This time, Lilly took some time to answer. She would be lying if she said she wasn't mad at Miley, even a tiny bit, but now she could understand the reasons why Miley had not told her such a thing. Not to mention that she could now see that her own behavior had been far from correct.

"Yes, I am," Lilly finally said. "But I'm also mad at myself. I should have tried to understand her point of view, and to reassure her things would be alright."

After a short pause, she added, "And I should not have called her a…" Lilly paused there, unable to repeat her own words.

"A stuck-up whore who doesn't give any value to her friends or to anyone else who cares about her?" Oliver finished for her.

He spoke in a gentle tone, clearly showing he was not upset at her for calling Miley such a thing, but Lilly winced anyway, which prompted Oliver to kiss her forehead in an attempt to soothe her.

"Yes," she whispered. "Because I know more than well enough that she's not like that. I know she loves us, and her father, and many other people. And I know she's not going out with so many guys because she's a whore."

Then, her voice becoming louder and with more than a hint of frustration in it, Lilly added, "I just don't understand why she's always getting a new boyfriend, and why she purposefully chooses guys who she knows will dump her or cheat on her in a heartbeat!"

Oliver was silent for a long time, clearly thinking about what to say. As he did, he started running the fingers of his right hand over Lilly's left side, as if that somehow would stimulate his thoughts, as Lilly stared into emptiness, waiting for Oliver's response.

"Maybe she's suffering from a broken heart," Oliver suggested, making Lilly turn her eyes to him again. "There are people who say that the best way to forget a non-corresponded love and get over heartbreak is to fall in love with someone else. It's possible Miley is dating so many guys in an attempt to fall in love with one of them."

Lilly had to admit it was a valid possibility, but somehow, she doubted that was the real reason.

"I don't think so, Ollie-pop," Lilly said, trying not to sound too dismissing. "I know every guy Miley dated, and she bounced back from all of them without any major problem."

Again, Oliver took some time to answer, either trying to think of some other explanation or about some argument he could use to insist on that point of view.

"Maybe it's a love from childhood?" Oliver suggested.

If Lilly was some other person, she would most certainly have said that loves from childhood didn't exist. But her own relationship was with someone who she had loved since childhood, no matter how hard she had tried to deny that. The same could be valid for Miley.

"Maybe," Lilly eventually relented. "I don't know."

For a moment, Lilly couldn't help but to feel a tiny surge of self-directed anger at realizing that Miley had had this problem for so long and Lilly had been too focused on other things to help her. But then, she remembered that Miley's love issues was not what they had been talking about. While it would be helpful if they figured out the answer to that issue, so they could help Miley better later on, that was not exactly their primary concern, although it was a close second.

"I know I need to apologize to her, though," Lilly said, going back to their original subject. "I shouldn't have called her that just because she's afraid of dying alone."

Oliver nodded in acknowledgement, his look showing that he simply listened to her, and would neither agree with her in regards to her insults to Miley nor he would berate her for having done so. But he clearly had something else to say about the matter.

"Why did you get so mad, anyway?" Oliver asked. "From the way you spoke to her, it would seem you were desperate for her to come along to college with us."

At that statement, Lilly looked away, unwilling to meet Oliver's gaze. He'd just laid a finger on the wound with that last statement. Realizing the same thing, Oliver brought his right hand upwards and caressed her left cheek with his fingertips, before tenderly turning her face upwards so she would look at him.

"Is there anything you want to tell me, Lilly-pop?" he asked in a gentle tone.

It was true she had indeed wanted Miley to go to college with her more than she probably should have, but she couldn't quite put her finger on the exact reason, at least not off the top of her mind.

"I don't know, Ollie-pop," Lilly managed. "Maybe I just wanted so much for Miley to go to New York with us because my subconscious just thinks that without Miley around, our relationship will fall apart. After all, she's the one who set us back together after we had that argument over which music we danced to."

Oliver chuckled slightly at that, but without looking as if he was mocking her. Wondering what he would say, Lilly kept quiet.

"Lilly-pop, our relationship won't fall apart without Miley around," he said in a reassuring tone. "We didn't have her around when you held my hand in kindergarten, and we didn't have her around at the beach party where we confessed our feelings for each other. I confess, Miley sped up our reconciliation, but I'm sure we would have gotten back together eventually without her, even if it would have taken longer."

Lilly smiled at him for his soothing words, feeling her heart melting when he smiled back.

"Besides, she also brought us problems once," Oliver pointed out. "She nearly ruined our relationship that time when I practiced saying 'I love you' with her when she was unconscious and she thought I loved her instead of you. I know it was an accident, but she did it anyway."

Lilly noticed the guilty manner in which Oliver said those last sentences. Clearly, he didn't like accusing Miley of anything, mainly behind her back. Lilly felt the same way, but she couldn't help but to agree it was the truth.

"That was an honest mistake," Lilly piped in, unable to keep her thoughts about that matter to herself. "But like you, I can't understand why she would think you were in love with her. Seriously, it was so weird. I can almost swear she was just so desperate to find the right guy even then that she just chose to believe you were truly in love with her in the chance you might be that guy."

If that had been any girl other than Miley, Lilly would have thought that said girl had been trying to break her up with Oliver just so she could snatch him away. But Lilly knew Miley would never have done that. So, the only logical explanation was that she somehow had believed Oliver was in love with her.

"It's really sad she just can't find the right guy for her," Lilly carried on, returning to the previous subject. "But I can't understand why. Even with her slight diva attitude at times, she's a great person, and the best friend I could ask for."

Again, Oliver put his two cents in, but this time, he took far less time to reply.

"Maybe she just has bad luck." he said.

Lilly agreed. It had to be the only explanation. None of the guys Miley had dated could see the extraordinary person she was, with the exception of Travis, and even with him, things hadn't worked out well for Miley.

"Whatever the reason, we should help her on that point." Lilly said.

Oliver immediately got a wary look on his face at that remark.

"You don't want to start setting her up with guys again, do you?" he asked in an almost fearful tone. "You remember what happened last time we did so."

At those words, he shuddered, undoubtedly because he was recalling Ralphie, the fake boyfriend Miley had gotten in an attempt to get Lilly and Oliver off her back.

"Of course not," Lilly said. "It's been more than proved that such a thing doesn't work for her. I simply meant we should help her to get through that, make her realize that even if she never has a decent relationship, there's no way she can end up dying alone, because we won't let her."

It seemed the only thing they could do. Even if the love of two best friends could never truly replace the love of a husband, it was better than nothing in Lilly's opinion. The two of them only had to make Miley feel they loved her.

"But like I already said, I think that first we need to have a serious talk with her," Lilly said.

Oliver nodded in agreement.

"When do you want to do it?" Oliver asked.

Almost before he had finished voicing the question, Lilly replied, "Not tomorrow. Tomorrow is meant to be just our day. We'll do it Sunday, when I get back to Miley's house."

For a moment, Lilly couldn't help but to think it was a little bit selfish of her to dismiss her friend like that. After all, the sooner she got her friendship with Miley mended, the better. But she believed it would better not to go Miley so soon. For one, she didn't want to dismiss a day that she and Oliver had been planning it since long before he came back. And for another, it would be better if they gave her some time away from them, as most certainly she was still upset at them because of what they told her.

Oliver nodded at her.

"Do you want to go to Miley's concert in Los Angeles tomorrow?" Oliver asked.

Lilly let out a low gasp at that question. In the middle of all that had taken place, she had completely forgotten about that concert. Trying not to let Oliver realize so, Lilly scolded herself inwardly. It was the first time she had forgot about one of Miley's concerts. But it wouldn't the first time she didn't go to one – although, at least until now, none of the times she had been missing had been because she didn't want to go to them.

"Considering what happened today, I think it would be better if we didn't go," Lilly said when she managed to snap out of the brief sense of alarm that rushed through her.

A slightly confused look coming onto his face, Oliver asked, "What does what happened today have to do with anything?"

Shifting her position on the bed in a just so slight manner, Lilly asked. "Remember what I told you about Miley revealing the Hannah secret to all of Crowley Corners after Travis showed up and she felt guilty for having hurt him?"

His puzzled look dissolving into understanding, Oliver said, "I see what you mean. Miley may have been lucky that her whole hometown decided to keep her secret and that the only person out to get her at the time was that British reporter who gave up his job for the sake of his daughters, but it would be far too much for us to expect such a thing would happen if she revealed her secret in Los Angeles."

"Exactly," Lilly said. "I don't want her career to end up ruined just because she won't be able to stand her guilt or something in that vein."

Lilly did her best to suppress a shoulder. She knew how those vultures that masqueraded as reporters and paparazzi hounded over celebrities as though they depended on knowing all about their daily lives to breathe. Miley mostly managed to avoid that thanks to the double life she lived, but if that secret was ever revealed, she wouldn't stand a chance at keeping a private life. Even if Lilly's life wouldn't be too affected by that revelation – although it would be impossible to escape, seeing as Lola did have a little bit of fame herself – the sheer thought of it happening to someone was quite frightening, to say the least. And the thought of it happening to her best friend was much more than just 'quite frightening'.

"Besides, it may be better if both I and she spend some time away from each other," Lilly added, deciding it was better to mention her other reason why she wanted to leave Miley alone until after tomorrow. "Hopefully that way, we'll be less likely to be hotheaded when we meet again. And at least in my case, I know I will."

Oliver smiled at her.

"I'm sure it will be the same way with Miley," he said. "And don't worry, I'll be there to mediate between the two of you and make sure you don't go at each other's necks. Even if I end up with a few bruises, I've learned to take them by now."

Lilly couldn't help but to smile at him after that comment.

"If that happens, I promise I'll make it up to you after that matter is solved," Lilly said, running her left hand along his chest and abs.

"That's good to know." Oliver said, his smile still in place as he slid his body slightly down the bed so their faces would be closer.

After planting a gentle kiss on the tip of her nose, he added. Now sleep. We have a car to buy tomorrow."

Lilly knew that he was talking about the decision the two of them had made to buy their own car, some time before Oliver left for his tour, and both of them had started working to earn enough money to do so. But that would no longer be necessary, as he had gained quite some money by working as the Tepid Funk's opening act. It hadn't been much compared to what some other stars earned, but it was more than enough to pay for the car. He wouldn't pay for all of it, of course, as Lilly would put in some of the money herself, but he would pay for the most part.

"Good night, Ollie-pop." Lilly said, as she crawled up to him.

"Good night, Lilly-pop." he replied, before their lips met, and the two of them embraced each other, both feeling their whole bodies tingling from the kiss they were sharing.

* * *

**Well, this is it. I really hope you have enjoyed it.**

**I guess this chapter was the first time I made somewhat of a use of the M rating of this fanfic, considering the scene with Lilly and Oliver in the aftermath of their lovemaking. Also, regarding that same scene, that is in no way meant to reflect my personal opinion on teenagers having sex, it simply is meant to reflect the way most teenagers have their relationships, and frankly, the way Lilly and Oliver may perfectly be in the series' canon, only it's not shown because it's a Disney show.**

**If I offended any of you with that scene, my deepest apologies.**

**On a slightly different topic, and as a little bit of trivia, I couldn't help but think about how love is blind, like they say, seeing as neither Lilly nor Oliver considered the chance of Miley being in love with Oliver. **

**Again, my apologies for the way the plot is moving along, whether it's too fast or too slow. Next chapter, it will speed up a little bit more.**

**I will try not to take this long to update... but sadly, I can't promise anything. **

**I hope you enjoyed it, and thank you all for reading.**


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